Black Wings and Golden Things
by fencingnae
Summary: Mortals are threatening the future of Camp Jupiter. Reyna is sent on a quest to find a mortal hero to help save Camp Jupiter and the fate of all demigods.
1. Chapter 1

The boy was running with all his might. He had put some distance between himself and the monster chasing him, but he didn't want to take any chances. The thrumming ran throughout his entire body. The boy was close, really close. He was sure he was almost there, when he burst into a clearing. If he wasn't already out of breath, the sight would have taken it away. Up a green slope was the barrier and in the clearing between the boy and the barrier were several men with dangerous looking guns. Several black SUVs were parked and some men in suits were talking to each other. the boy started to retreat back into the woods when he heard the crashing behind him. Sure enough, when he turned to look to see what the noise was, there was the monster. She looked furious. There was no choice. The boy plunged into the clearing, running with all his might. He zigged and zagged like Lupa taught him. He ran past the first man, startling him. An other man held up a hand to imply that he stop, but the boy was more afraid of the monster chasing him than the man with the large gun. He, instead, used his momentum to slide between the man's legs. He popped up and kept running, not daring to look back. By now, the boy had caught everyone's attention. The guns then started firing. He zigged and zagged until he reached one of the cars, where he then slid under it. On the other side were two more men. He grabbed the first man's large gun out of his hands and used it like a baseball bat and hit the other man in the jaw, effectively taking him out. The boy then used it to swing at the other guys legs, but he dodged. The boy was so close to the barrier that he threw the gun as hard as he could at the man, effectively distracting him and ran up the hill with all his might. His body ached so much, but he pushed through the pain. Bullets ricocheted around him. Just a little further. A bullet tore through the boy's shoulder. He cried out in pain, but kept going. Just a few more feet. A bullet hit him in the leg. He fell to the ground whimpering. He kept climbing with his good leg and arm, when he noticed one of the men wearing a black suit walk toward him. He was bald and had a disturbing glint in his eye. "Persistent one, isn't he? Take care of him."

The boy struggled again to climb the hill, ignoring the fact that a man now had a pistol pointed right at him. "BANG."

Reyna sat straight up in bed, covered in sweat with her heart racing. It was the third dream she had had but with a different kid. This dream was the final straw. A kid had been shot. Reyna dressed quickly and raced to the barrier on the hill. When she got there, she looked out over the clearing. Everything looked peaceful in the early morning rays. The camp would just be getting up. But her gaze stood fixed on the clearing, looking for any sign of what happened. Finally she crossed it. She eyed the ground until she found what she was looking for, blood. She crouched down and brushed her hand across the blood tainted grass. Her heart ached for vengeance. She then became aware of another presence. She looked up to find a gray wolf staring back.

"Lupa." Reyna bowed her head in reverence.

Lupa padded softly over to her sniffing the blood in the grass and then the blood on her hand. The wolf's ears flattened against her head and she showed her teeth with a low growl.

Reyna didn't feel threatened, instead she felt the mother wolf coming out in her. A bond the two shared. "There has to be something we can do." Reyna pleaded to the wolf.

Lupa lowered her head slightly. A motion that Reyna recognized immediately. Reyna placed her own forehead on Lupa's, a motion that said, "I am with you."

"Thank you." Reyna replied. She stood and walked back into camp with Lupa by her side. They walked steadily toward New Rome. It wasn't until they began walking past Camp Jupiter that they began to draw notice. Soldiers would stop what they were doing and watch as they passed. Once they were a good distance away, the murmerings and whispers would break out. She could only imagine the theories that they were coming up with. It had never been known for Lupa to actually come to camp. It could only mean something serious was going on if she were here.

"Reyna." Frank called out to her and approached them. He bowed respectively to Lupa. "Lupa." he said reverently.

"Frank, I need you to call an emergency senate meeting." Reyna ordered.

"Does this have to do with your dreams, the missing kids?"

Reyna raised her hand to show the blood on it.

Frank paled. "I'll get right on it."

She was satisfied as Frank began calling out orders to nearby soldiers. Frank was a good praetor and they worked well together. Reyna and Lupa entered the empty senate house, sat down and waited patiently. She watched with some satisfaction as each senate member rushed in, stop short at the sight of the wolf, then proceed carefully to their seat. Once everyone had arrived, including Frank, Reyna called the meeting to order.

"Honored members of the senate, and honored guest, Lupa." She nodded to the wolf. "This meeting has been called to address an urgent matter. Three . . ."

Lupa interrupted her with a loud bark that echoed throughout the building. Then she pawed the ground five times. Reyna blinked in shock. She had only seen three kids in her dreams, but evidently there had been five.

Reyna composed herself, "Five kids, who were making their way to camp, have ben abducted by mortals. This is no coincidence. Action must be taken, for the future of Rome."

"What evidence do you have, Praetor?" Senator Marino asked.

"I have had several dreams, several nights in a row watching these kids fighting mortals, grown men with guns, to get to the barrier only to be captured. The last dream, last night, I watched a boy get shot multiple times. I went beyond the barrier and here is the blood to prove it." Reyna held up her hand to show the blood. "That is when Lupa showed up."

"The trial is meant to have difficulties in it. It is what weeds out the strong from the weak." Another senator argued.

"Against monsters. Not mortals." Another senator stood up. "We are sworn not to use our abilities against mortals. So these kids are only doing what they have been taught."

"What about the local authorities?" Another asked.

"We've called the local authorities. They let them continue their activities as though nothing had happened, even though they saw it right before their eyes." Reyna argued. We can not stand idle anymore. We need to take matters into our own hands. Drive them from our borders."

"Our weapons aren't meant to fight mortals, only immortals. We can't battle guns!" A senator argued.

"Look to the Arguries!" A voice called out.

All eyes turned toward Brooke, a young girl, maybe thirteen years old. She stood before the senate and cut open a stuffed bear and pulled out the stuffing. Everyone was silent as they watched.

"You will go to the dark city and lure a mortal hero.

Together, you will face your enemies.

This is not a single battle but a war.

Beware the immortal mortal."

She sat down as though she were exhausted.

Everyone was silent as they contemplated what Brooke had said. "Where is this dark city and how do you lure a mortal hero? Reyna asked the question on everyone's mind. She was surprised when she saw a solo hand rise up. Most people in the senate would shout out what ever they wanted to say, so she felt a little irked that this kids was acting like a student in a classroom. "Yes?" She tapped her foot impatiently.

"Um," the kid adjusted his glasses nervously. "There are mortal heroes in the world. They're part of an organization called the Justice League. Some are super powerful and are most likely immortal, but there are some that are just regular mortals. Like Batman, or the Green Arrow, or the Black Canary." He was getting more comfortable talking as this was clearly a subject he was passionate about.

Reyna held up a hand and said, "Wait!" He stopped and looked around embarrassed. "So the world considers these men heroes?"

"Men and women." He corrected. They've helped stopped an alien invasion, and . . ."

"Stop." Reyna commanded. "So you think we're supposed to lure one of these heroes into fighting for us?"

"Um, yes?" He said with less confidence.

"What makes you so sure?"

"The other line." He said nervously. Reyna raised an eyebrow, urging him to continue. "The dark city. It has to refer to Gotham, home of Batman. It is known for its most violent criminals. And it just so happens that there is a charity event this weekend in Gotham where the Justice League is going to be there. They're going to sign photographs, have pictures taken. It's going to be amazing!" He said the last part with a little too much enthusiasm.

"Sounds like you have your destination, Praetor Reyna." The head of the senate said.

"Me?!" Reyna protested.

"You have been having the dreams, and Lupa came to you." The senator pointed out.

Reyna sighed and conceded his point. "But how do you lure a hero?"

The question hung in the air for a moment until a feline voice answered. "Well, that's obvious." A beautiful young woman answered. "You lure them with you."

Some men chuckled at this revelation, while others coughed uncomfortably. "Well, it looks like you have your companions for your quest." The head of the senate chuckled.

Lupa barked and wagged her tail in approval. Reyna looked down at her, "You have got to be kidding me."


	2. Chapter 2

Dick crashed on his bed. It had been a long night in Bloodhaven. He was exhausted, but had little interest in going to sleep. Sleep brought dreams, and dreams . . . well, dreams became nightmares.

"You've been burning the candle from both ends." Dick would have jumped at the sound of the voice, but was too tired. Instead, he just turned his head to see his adopted father, Bruce Wayne, more like his mentor. They never did a normal father/son activity his whole life. He sat encased in the shadows. Typical.

"What do you care." Dick forced himself to get up and began taking his uniform off.

"I care." Bruce replied coolly.

"Oh?" Dick was down to his underwear by now and just stared Bruce down. "What are you doing here, then?"

"To check up on you." Bruce replied simply.

"And?" Dick put on a pair of pajama bottoms.

"And . . ." Bruce drew out the word, "to invite you to a party."

"What party?" Dick waited for the other shoe to drop.

"A party I'm hosting." Bruce was being evasive. He hated partys.

"And what do you want me to do at this party?" Dick lay back on his bed.

"Nothing."

"Nothing?" Dick questioned.

"It's a charity event to raise money to rebuild areas that were destroyed during the last battle."

"And you want me to show up and do what, exactly?" Dick pressed. He had never been able to do what he wanted at a party. It was always some cat and mouse game, filled with deceit.

"We're . . ." Bruce cleared his throat, "dressing in our disguises and signing autographs, taking pictures, that sort of stuff."

Dick sat up at that. "You're selling us? That's a new one."

"It wasn't my first choice, but I eventually saw all the good it could do."

"Diane talked you into it, didn't she." Dick grinned at his mentor as he shifted uncomfortably.

"Please, come. You're one of the most requested heroes."

Dick thought about it for a moment. "Is there an open bar?"

"Yes." Bruce said in a displeased voice.

"Then I'll be there." Dick got up to go to the bathroom.

"You shouldn't be drinking so much, especially while working."

"Then it's a good thing I don't drink while I'm working."

"What about school?"

"What about school?" Dick said irriatably.

"Aren't you going to Gotham U?"

"Kind of. They really don't have much to offer."

"You need to learn the business side of things."

"I'm not you." Dick glared at Bruce.

"I'm not trying to make you into me. I just want to make sure you don't do something you'll regret."

"I already have regrets, and none of it has to do with college." Dick lashed out.

Bruce's eyes narrowed. "Everyone made their own choices."

"He was my only friend!" Dick yelled. The anger he had been carrying around for so long came lashing out at the mention of Wally.

"That's not true, you have lots of friends."

"Coworkers." Dick corrected. He held the mask in his hands. "It's hard to make friends when you keep secrets. Wally knew everything about me, and I him. You wouldn't understand. You've never let anyone in, not completely." Dick turned to face him. "Just text me the date, time, and place and I'll show up. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to take a shower." Dick closed the bathroom door and turned on the shower, making it clear to Bruce that the conversation was over. He stared at his reflection in the mirror. His hair was due for a haircut that he just didn't want to bother with and his eyes had bags under them, a testement to his lack of sleep. He probably should listen to Bruce, but he liked the feeling of going against his advice too much.

He took his shower, letting the hot water run over the knots in his shoulders and back. By the time he got out, Bruce was gone. He made his way to bed as he dried himself off. He went to watch TV to help keep him awake, unfortunately, it had an opposite effect and he fell fast asleep to a national news cast about a rise in children kidnappings.


	3. Chapter 3

She was going to kill them. The entire trip had been spent with Erik listing all the statistics of each mortal hero as well as all the others, whether she wanted to know them or not. All the while, McKenzie kept fussing about which eye shade would go best with the outfit she had brought and Reyna's complexion. It was her bad luck that not a single monster attacked them the entire trip. They got a nice hotel, not that Reyna got to relax. McKenzie went to work right away. It had never taken Reyna so long to get ready. Not even when she was on Cerce's island. That brought back unwanted memories. Reyna might have relaxed a little bit, but Erik continued his drive of statistics and random facts.

After two days of it, she was about to ram something down his throat. McKenzie pulled on Reyna's hair, painted her nails, and almost took an eye out with the mascara. After about four hours, Reyna thought she was ready, but McKenzie kept primping. "You're late." Erik wrung his hands nervously. You would have thought he was going to meet them.

"That's good enough." Reyna pushed her to the side. She glanced in the mirror, but did not recognize the woman staring back. A beautiful woman wearing a tight red gown with a slit down the side of the skirt stared back. Her hair was done up with a single black curl draped ellegently across her exposed shoulder. To top it off she wore a pair of red heels and had a matching red handbag.

"How am I supposed to fight in this?" She glared at McKenzie.

"You're not going to be fighting the Justice League, silly." McKenzie continued to fuss with Reyna's hair.

"This is the stupidest thing I have ever done." Reyna growled. She strapped her Imperial Gold knife to the inside of he thigh. She had to have something to protect herself with should any monsters show up.

"You're late." Erik said for the millionth time. "Could you have Batman sign this?" He handed her a card.

"Being fashionably late draws the most attention. And you will most definitely draw attention." She said with a note of pride in her voice.

Reyna glared at the two of them. "I'm leaving." She snatched the card from Erik and left the room without waiting for a reply. She wobbled on her heels before catching herself. "Come on. You're a warrior, Praetor of the legions of Rome. You can handle a pair of heels." She murmured to herself. She walked to the elevator, out of the lobby, and onto the street without a single wobble. A bell hop called a taxi that she promptly entered. She went over the Justice League members that Erik said would be her best bet. Batman, Green Arrow, and Black Canary were all mortals and the best choice for help. Reyna personally leaned toward Wonder Woman, but the Romans had reasons for staying as disconnected from her as possible. She soon arrived at a large building that was mostly glass. She pulled out a piece of paper as she got out. She wobbled on her heels, but caught herself on the taxi door. She walked up the stairs, which she was now cursing, and up to the man at the door. The man greeted her as she showed him the blank piece of paper, spreading the mist over it. The man glanced at it, before motioning her inside. Just inside the building were two men with wand metal detectors, scanning it over every guest who was walking in. She wasn't sure if Imperial Gold could be detected or not, but didn't want to take the chance. When it was her turn, the moment they raised their wands, she snapped her fingers and said, "You already scanned me."

The guard looked confused for a moment, then said, "Sorry ma'am. Go on ahead." He motioned her inside.

"Thank you." She said politely.

"Have a good evening." The other guard said.

Once she was properly inside the building it was huge. The ceiling was so tall, she could barely make out the top. It was filled with lavish tables, and a bar. There was a platform in the center where several costumed people stood. They were waving, signing autographs, and getting their pictures taken. Then she noticed the long line that led to the platform.

Reyna breathed disbelievingly through her nose at the sight, but got in line. "Fashionably late, my gluteus maximus." Reyna grumbled. She was in line for almost an hour until it was almost her turn. She was much closer to the heroes now and as she watched them, couldn't help but wonder if they were really them or just fakes. Maybe the whole thing was a scam. All of a sudden, all of them looked down at their watch or belt. Then one by one they made their dramatic exit from the building. And just like that, they were gone.

"What just happened?" Reyna asked no one in particular.

A girl who had been next in line, burst into tears. The girl who had been in front of her, turned to look at Reyna and in an angry tone said, "They were just called off to save the world again."

"Are they coming back?" Another girl asked.

Reyna stood there cursing McKenzie, cursing this quest, and especially cursing her heels that she had to wear for an hour for no reason. She spotted the bar with stools next to it, and made her way there, desperately trying not to wobble. She gave a sigh of relief the moment she sat down. She deliberately choose a seat as close to the corner as possible. She didn't feel like being disturbed at the moment, and it also was the best position to keep an eye on the crowd, or in other words, any potential threats.

"What will you have?" The bartender asked politely.

Reyna considered her choices before settling on, "Water, please."

The bartender hesitated. "Water? Um, this is an open bar. You can have anything you like."

"Oh?" Reyna raised a questioning eyebrow. "So you're saying you have a hot vanilla cocoa with nutmeg and cinnamon sprinkled on top?"

"Um, no." The bartender looked abashed.

"I didn't think so. Water, please."

The bartender turned and poured some water into a glass, placed a napkin in front of her, and placed the glass on it.

"Thank you." She smiled appreciatively.

The bartender nodded back and went to serve other customers. She turned to face the mulling crowd. It seemed as though there were a lot less people than when she had first arrived. She guessed the show was over and there wasn't much reason to stay. She watched as a particularly oversized man, who was obviously drunk, kept trying to take liberties with young woman. It raked against Reyna, but she turned her gaze away. She was out of her jurisdiction, no matter how much she wanted to interfere. She turned her mind to other matters. How was she going to get a hold of the Justice League now? She sipped on her water as she went over what information she had, curtisy of Erik. She was contemplating going to the individual cities, when her thoughts were interrupted.

A young man with black hair sat down next to her. "You look completely heartbroken." He said. Though it didn't look like he cared much either way.

"Excuse me?" She turned her focus on him.

"Let me guess. Your a Batman girl." She must have pulled a face as he continued, "No? Superman." She looked at him funny again. "I know, Wonder Woman. You look like a Wonder Woman kind of girl." He smiled.

"Personally, I'm not interested in any of them." Reyna said disinterestedly and turned back to her drink.

"Hmm, then you must be in the wrong place." He observed.

"Not really." Reyna remained neutral.

"Hmm, a mystery. So what's a girl like you, with no interest in the Justice League doing here?" He pondered out loud.

"It doesn't matter." She sipped her water.

The bartender had arrived in front of the young man to take his order. The young man glanced at her drink and coolly said, "I'll have what she's having.

The bartender looked at her drink and was about to say something, when Reyna interrupted him. "You heard him. He'll have what I'm having." She winked conspiratorially at the bartender.

The bartender got her message and hid a smile as he turned and hid the bottle of water he poured into the glass. Not that he had to, the young man was completely focused on her.

"So why doesn't it matter?" He asked. "You've piqued my curiosity."

The bartender placed the napkin in front of him and placed the drink on the napkin. Without missing a beat, the young man picked up the drink and took a long swallow. Shortly after, his eyes widened and he spat it back into the glass.

Reyna couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"This is water." He stated blankly.

"What did you think it was?" Reyna chuckled.

The young man looked embarrassed and said, "Honestly? Vodka."

"Quite the difference, I'm sure." She chuckled again.

The young man examined the drink again, then took a drink. "Well you're not here for the open bar. So what are you doing here?"

"Like I said, it doesn't matter. Not anymore." She looked into the water pondering what she was going to do next.

"Oh no you don't. You owe me."

Reyna raised an eyebrow.

The young man picked up his drink and swirled it around as though it were a fine wine, took a sip, and swished it in his mouth as though testing the flavor.

Reyna let out a snort. She rolled her eyes and said, "Fine. I was hoping to make contact with one of them." She looked at her water. "We need their help." She hated admitting it.

"The young man turned serious. "Oh." They were quiet for a moment before he tenitively said, "Maybe I can help."

Reyna looked at him doubtfully. "You?"

"I'm Dick Grayson. I've got some connections with the League."

Reyna gave him a doubtful look.

Dick looked confused at he lack of reaction. "You know, son of the billionaire Bruce Wayne?" He asked hopefully.

"Never heard of him." She answered honestly.

"He set this charity up."

"I'll take your word for it." Reyna turned back to her drink.

The young man looked frustrated for a moment. "The point is, tell me what you need, and I'll get the message to them."

Reyna studied him, trying to detect any type of lie. It was moments like this that she wished she had her faithful pets. They could tell when someone was lying. "Okay. If you fail, I'll just say we tried and then we'll do it my way." Reyna reasoned. She pulled out some papers that they had put together. She handed him the papers that had the exact location of the majority of the kidnappings with a basic description of the place, the kids, and of the enemy. "This is the main place where the kidnappings have been taking place. It's important that you tell them that they are heavily armed."

Dick took the papers. "Kidnappings?" He asked worriedly.

"Yes, that's where children are taken unwillingly." Reyna said sarcastically.

"I know what kidnappings are. But isn't that a local police matter?"

"Maybe, if they weren't bought off." She took another drink of water, finishing it. "You're sure you can get it to them?"

"Consider it done." Dick smirked.

"Okay, then. I'm out of here." She got off her stool and got her balance on her heels.

"Wait!" Dick called out. "How do they get a hold of you?"

"_You_ don't." Reyna emphasized the 'you.' "We'll be watching." With that she left him at the bar.

She was about halfway to the entrance, when the large man she had observed earlier intercepted.

"Well, aren't you a beauty." His drunken breath made her nauseous. "Where you going? Things are just getting interesting." He reached out a hand as though to grab her.

Reyna instantly reacted. She took advantage of his close proximity, grabbed him by the shoulders and kneed him in the groin, hard. There was an unmistakable ripping noise from the movement. The man's eyes widened as he fell to his knees, cradling his privates.. Reyna grabbed his face and said quietly, "Consider this your cold shower. You lay your unwanted hands on another girl, I'll hunt you down and cut it off." She pushed his face away from her, causing him to fall.

She became aware of everyone's eyes on her as she straightened herself. There were a few claps, but otherwise, the room was eerily quiet. She focused on not wobbling as she continued her course to leave the building.


	4. Chapter 4

Dick watched as the woman in the red dress kneed Harold Stoker. He watched in fascination as her dress, which already had a high slit, ripped to reveal more of her legs. What sent warning bells off in his head was the glint of a golden knife strapped to her leg.

Dick pushed his glass to the side, stood up, and followed her. So many questions filled his head. Why was she asking for help, when she obviously can take care of herself? More alarming, how did she get past security with a knife? He sped up to try and catch up with her, but he had only gotten so far when Liza, the daughter of billionaire Ross Erikson, blocked him.

"Dick, I haven't seen you around lately. When did you arrive?" She cooed as she wrapped her arms around him.

"Uh, I just popped in for a minute." He said while keeping an eye on the girl in the red dress.

"Oh, well, do you want to just pop upstairs for a minute?" She asked slyly.

Dick focused on her. He had only had one night with her when he got caught bugging her fathers office. And while he would have been inclined to have a little fun, he also noticed the girl in the red dress slipping out the front door. "Uh, maybe another time." He delicately removed himself from her and practically raced toward the entrance doors. When he got outside, she was already entering a taxi. "Hey, what's your name?" He yelled. But she shut the door to the cab and took off. As he watched her leave, he wondered who exactly he agreed to help. As he walked back, he paused at the the guy at the podium. "That girl that just left, do you have a name for her?"

The man looked through his records, then he looked again, and again. "She's not on here." He admitted.

"What? You just let her in?" Dick was definitely questioning Bruce's security system. He next questioned the guards with the security wands.

"Yeah, we checked her." The guard said.

"Did you notice the knife strapped to her leg?" Dick asked incredulously.

The guards looked at each other.

"Of course you didn't." This girl was becoming more mysterious by the second. And Dick couldn't resist a good mystery. He left the party without another word. He had work to do. He drove straight to his penthouse in Bloodhaven. He booted up his super computer and hacked into the parties camera system. He looked at all the footage of his new interest. He watched as she wobbled on her heels. He made a mental note that she didn't usually wear heels. He watched closely as she approached the podium. She showed the guard a perfectly blank piece of paper. The guard glanced at it and waved her in. Dick played the scene again, not quite believing his eyes. Sure enough, it was a completely blank piece of paper. Then he watched her approach the the guards with the security wands. They went to check her and then stopped. Wait. He rewound the video and watched her closely. What was that that she did with her fingers. It was almost like she cast a spell. He didn't know much about magic, but he did know someone who did, Zatana, his old flame. He put on some sunglasses and dialed the watchtower.

Kaldur appeared on the main screen.. "Nightwing?" He said with a hint of surprise. "I didn't expect to hear from you. Is everything alright?" He asked with concern.

"I'm fine. Thanks. I actually needed to talk to Zantana for a second." Dick tried to hurry the conversation along. "Is she there?"

Kaldur raised a questioning eyebrow, "Uh, yeah, she's here. Should I give you a minute?"

Dick glared at Kaldur, "it's not that kind of call. Can you just get her."

"Sure." He pushed a button and said, "Zatana, you've got a call."

"Send it through." Her voice said over the intercom.

Kaldur pressed another button and Zatana appeared on the screen. "Nightwing? What's going on?"

"I need your advice." Dick pulled up the footage and played it to her. "How is she doing that?" He asked.

Zantana studied the footage. "It looks like she has at least a basic skill of magic."

"That's basic?" He asked disbelievingly.

"Showing someone what they are already expecting to see is basic."

"I don't understand."

Zatana sighed frustratedly. She pulled out a deck of cards. "Think of a card in your mind. Any card."

"Okay?" He thought about the mysterious girl and the queen of spades popped in his head.

"Have you got it? Are you thinking about it?"

"Yeah."

Zantana showed the first card to him. It was the queen of spades. Then she spread out the deck in her hands and all of them were the queen of spades. "This card was on your mind, so that is what you saw. The guard had seen how many invitations before she came. It was what he was expecting to see. All she had to do was spread a little magic and . . ." She waved the deck of the queen of spades in front of him. "So who is she?"

"I'm not sure, but I'm going to find out. Thanks for your help."

"Anytime. And don't hesitate to call if you need help." She smiled softly.

"Will do." He smiled back. The call went blank and the video footage came back up with the mysterious girl. He continued to watch the footage of her getting into line. He watched avidly until he got a good shot of her face. He copied it and put it in the national database. He ran it through a facial recognition program. He continued watching the footage, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. He checked the facial recognition database. Nothing yet. He pulled up a map of the coordinates she had given him. It was a clearing in the middle of several freeways in San Fransisco. He zoomed in on it to get a closer look, but saw nothing out of the ordinary.

The facial recognition beeped at him. He brought it up, but it only stated that she could not be found. He stared at it disbelievingly. "Who are you?" He sat back staring at her beautiful face with olive skin and dark mysterious eyes. He guessed that she was of Italian descent. Then he realized that the facial recognition was only for those in the United States. To even get access to an international database would take some serious hacking, and even then it would take hours maybe days for an international search.

He looked back at the location he had been given. Was it some type of trap set for the Justice League? He wasn't about to put them at risk for his curiosity to figure this mystery out. Regardless, it looked like we was taking a trip to San Fransisco.


	5. Chapter 5

Reyna waited and watched the moment she was notified of the arrival of the group of cars in the clearing. She didn't know if anything would come of her encounter with Mr. Grayson, who claimed to know the Justice League. But she was ready to intervene this time should members of the Justice League not show up. She watched as the men below lounged around, waiting for something to happen. All day they waited. All day she waited. It wasn't until dark fell that she noticed some movement close to the border. She thought that maybe a kid had snuck past their barricade, but it was too large to be a kid. She walked along her side of the invisible border until she was almost right behind him. He was dressed completely in a skin tight black suit, which was why she hadn't noticed him before. He was crouched low to the ground as though he were ready to pounce. He had a mask on as though he were going to a masquerade. Something must have been wrong with it, as he kept fiddling with it.

"What am I doing out here?" He questioned himself. "Just couldn't resist a pretty face, could you. I'm such a sucker for red."

Reyna narrowed her eyes at him. Suddenly there was movement at the edge of the clearing. The man in the black suit tensed. The men in the clearing all became alert and pointed their guns at the sound. Reyna watched in horror as a little girl, around nine or ten years old, burst into the clearing. She stopped and blinked at all the guns pointed at her, as though in shock. She opened her mouth as though to say something and two darts hit her square in the chest. She looked down at them and then crumpled to the ground. Reyna's stomach clenched at the sight. She turned her attention toward the man in black to see what he would do. He fiddled with his mask, but otherwise did nothing. Having lost her patience, Reyna stepped past the invisible barrier and crouched down next to him.

"Well? Are you going to do anything?" She questioned.

He fell back on his butt in surprise and stared at her. "Where did you come from?" He questioned as he looked around.

"It doesn't matter. Question is: What are you going to do?" She glared impatiently at him.

"There's over twenty men down there. A dog isn't that important." He grumbled.

"A dog?!" Reyna was insensed. "A dog." She looked at him.

"Yeah?" He seemed unsure of himself.

Reyna couldn't believe how thick this guy was. The mist must really be doing a number on him if he mistook a girl for a dog. "So over twenty men come all the way out here, armed, for a dog." She shook her head disbelivingly. "Is that normal where you come from?" He went to open his mouth, but she interrupted him, "Unbelievable. The Auguries must be broken. Nevermind. I'll do it myself."

She silently slide down the hill before he could say anything. The armed men were putting the girl in a van. Everyone was turned from her, so she had the element of surprise. She walked low to the ground and approached the first vehicle. She noticed the men's guns pointed to the ground. She drew her knife. The irony wasn't lost on her how she was sworn to protect the very men who were kidnapping half-bloods. Regardless, she would have to get creative. As quietly as she could, she began to one by one hit them over the head with the pomel of her knife. She had taken out ten men before they became aware of her presence. She grabbed a gun out of a man's hands while she kneed him in the groin.

She quickly ducked behind a vehicle as several shots went off. She placed the knife flush with the gun and shortly after the shots had ceased she fired two shots at the next two men. She aimed and shot at the third, but the click of an empty chamber forced her to change tactics. She instead ran and jumped at the guy while swinging the gun at another mans head. The pomel of her knife struck where she wanted it to. She noticed a man taking aim at her and threw the useless gun at him. She jumped toward him, just dodging a shot at her. She used her momentum to whip herself behind the guy just in time for him to take the shots that were meant for her. She grabbed his gun and shot at the two oncoming men before she was out of ammo. She looked around to see if their was anyone else standing. She heard some moans, but otherwise, no one was standing. 'Was that twenty?' She wondered.

She opened the van to get the girl out. A gun met her gaze. When she saw who was holding the gun all she could think was, "Oh no."

The gun went off, she felt something sting her neck. She dropped her knife and reached for her sword. There was another shot. Reyna staggered and fought the blackness that was overtaking her.

"Down dog." A soft voice commanded, and her world went black.


	6. Chapter 6

Dick felt so confused after the girl slid down the hill. Why hadn't he thought that the men holding guns was out of place. Now that he thought about it, it did seem out of place. Then there was the fact that she looked like she had come from some sort of history reanactment. She was dressed like what a Roman general would wear. He watched her take out the first ten men with an elegance and grace he'd seen in few women. She was a trained warrior. He followed her down the hill and watched as she knocked every last man out. There were a few she left in her wake that were coming back around that Dick took care of. She opened the van doors, and just as Dick was going to reveal himself, he watched one trancrilizer after another hit her where there was no armor. He had a decision to make. Should he rescue her now or should he follow them to where their hide out is.

A woman in a short revealing dress stepped out. She said something to the girl before barking for her to be loaded onto the van. There was something about the woman that made it hard for Dick to look away, but she also sent a shiver down his spine. Two men grabbed the girl and roughly threw her into the van. They got into the front of the van, it started up and pulled out. The woman was definitely in charge, but Dick had never seen her before. He threw a tracer at the van as it took off. It made contact and he checked his systems to make sure it was giving a clear signal. Once he was sure, he got into one of the SUVs that had been left. Luckily the keys were in the vehicle. He started it up, but then noticed that there was something golden glinting in the grass. He got out and approached it. It was the same golden knife that had been strapped to her leg at the party. He went to reach out for it, but an immense fear for his life came over him, and he withdrew his hand. He stood up and looked around. He spotted a handkerchief wrapped around a guys neck. He removed it and used it to pick up the knife, careful not to touch it. He didn't feel the overwhelming fear for his life this time. He took it with him back to the vehicle and took off.

With the tracker, he could be a mile behind, and they would never know they were being followed. About midnight, they pulled off onto a deserted road. Dick pulled the vehicle over. He needed to approach this carefully. He turned off his lights and turned on the night vision on his mask and then got back on the road. The vehicle on his tracking device showed that it had stopped. He drove a little bit further until he saw what looked like a regular farm. Experience told him otherwise.

He got out of the vehicle and scanned the area. He flipped on some X-rays that showed an elevator and stairwell that went well below the farmhouse. He flipped back to normal view and zoomed in on the van. They were standing around talking. He wouldn't be able to tell about what at this distance. The conversation ended and the van doors opened. First they pulled out the woman in the Roman armor. Her purple cape draped around her like a blanket. Then a they pulled out a little girl around eight or nine. How could he have mistaken her for a dog? They put them on gurneys and rolled them into the farmhouse. Dick switched back to X-ray and watched as they got into the elevator and started going down. He scanned the area. The amount of security would rival Fort Knox. But that only served to motivate Dick more to break into that building, preferably unnoticed. Dick started to make his way through a field toward the farm house. He located the first set of security measures. It was more of a warning system to alert the farmhouse of incoming. He slipped past that with little problem.

The next was a bit more challenging. Automatic weapons that fired at anything moving. Dick didn't want them going off and alerting the farmhouse, but he also didn't want it to shot at him. He used his X-ray mode to locate the main wires to the alert system hoping that he could use it to access the weapons. He pulled out a pocket knife and dug down to the buried wires. He opened the main casing and hooked his personal computer system to it. He was thrilled to find that he had access to the entire system. He turned off the weapons as well as the sensors, but first copied the image so they farmhouse would see that all systems were up and working. He looped the cameras to show the same thing, so he could go where he wanted to. He even threw in some timed viruses that would cause some chaos for some time, after he got her out, of course. Once he was satisfied with everything, he continued his advance.

Getting up to the farmhouse was a breeze, getting past the guards unnoticed would be more of a challenge. He needed to get to the elevator, preferably the stairwell. The patrol of guards was pretty regular. He studied their pattern for awhile until he was confident that he had it down, then he timed his approaches and was able to get inside. The only ones in the farmhouse were those in the security control room, so it was easy to get to the stairwell. He hated stairs, but that was what propelling was for. He hooked his cable to the railing and jumped over the side. He traveled down some distance. He was worried that he would run out of cable before he reached the bottom, but luckily he had just enough.

He opened the stairwell door just a crack to check things out. There were two guards on either side of the elevator door. There was a glass wall with a single door with a security code next to it. Inside, he saw the gurneys, which now stood empty. There were tables with surgical instruments beside them and several vials of blood. He hated labs, even hospitals. There was a door with another keypad on it on the other side of the surgical room. He guessed they were in there. He prepared himself and jumped out of the stairwell, taking the guards by surprise. He took them both out with ease. He hooked his computer up to the security code next to the door and ran his code breaking algorithm. After a minute the door clicked green and he opened the door. He made his way to the next door without delay and did the same thing to the security code next to that door. Again after a minute, the door clicked green and Dick passed through.

At first glance the room looked empty, but then he saw a short bald man wearing a lab coat. He was staring into one of the tubes. Dick stealthily creeped up behind him and saw what he was looking at. It was the girl complete with her Roman armor with the purple cape draped behind her. Dick couldn't help but get caught up staring at the mysterious girl also. The man saw Dick's Nightwing reflection in the tube with a start. He didn't even have time to scream before Dick knocked him out. Dick went over to the computer and found the controls to her tube. They were sedating her nonstop. The dosage was more than it should be normally for someone her size. Dick opened the tube and removed the IV from her. He began looking through the computer files, trying to find out what they were up to and why they would be kidnapping children and women. He had just come across a file of blood samples showing half of a DNA strand. Before he could even figure out what that meant, there was a gasp of air behind him. He turned to see the woman awake and take in her surroundings.

"That was fast." Dick said as she stepped out.

"Di Immortales." She breathed as she took in her surroundings.

"By the way, you dropped this." He held out the wrapped up knife. "It seemed important."

She looked at him funny then snatched the knife out of his hand. "You're lucky you're still alive."

"I can handle myself." He smirked.

Her eyes then went wide and she ran to another tube. Inside was the little girl. The woman drew her sword and drew back as though she was going to strike it.

"Wait! No, no, no, no." Dick hurriedly said. She paused and looked at him with an eyebrow raised. "It's pressurized, if any changes are made it alerts everyone, which will have made everything I just did pointless."

"Get her out." She ordered as she pointed at the tube with her golden sword.

"Please?" He looked at her expectantly. Her only, response was a raised eyebrow. "Fine." he relented. He turned back to the computer and began the decompression.

The tube opened and she immediately began removing the IVs. Once they were off, she removed her body from the tube and laid her gently on the ground. She looked up at the other tubes. "Open this one." she pointed at a tube. "And this one." She went to another one. Soon she had pointed out five tubes that she wanted to open.

He complied though he was surprised there were so many. Once he had all the tubes open, he helped her remove the IVs and lay them on the ground. A boy she had removed had a bandage around his leg with a hint of blood on it and a bandage around his shoulder. He noticed her pouring some golden liquid over the wounds. She then placed something that looked like a lemon bar in his mouth. "That's a lot of kids." Dick commented.

"They've been collecting them over the past few months, but why?" She wondered out loud.

"Not sure, but they've been running tests on their blood." Dick showed her the monitor. "I wonder why they only have half of the DNA helix?" He pondered.

"Delete it." she said. He gave her a surprised look, then he noticed that she was pale as if frightened by what she saw. "We have to destroy everything they've done."

Dick took a step back from the computer. "Look, I'm all for destroying things, but I am curious as to what you are hiding. What exactly is going on?"

"Trust me when I say this, you don't want to know." She sounded earnest, but Dick couldn't let it go.

Dick went to argue back, when one of the kids toward the back of the room started screaming and scrambling back from one of the tubes. The roman woman immediately ran over and with out a second thought drew her sword and stabbed the tube the kid had been scrambling back from.

"What the . . . ?" Dick ran to the tube to see what was going on, but all he saw was an empty tube. The alarms went off and all the kids stirred and woke. "What did you do that for?" he demanded. The little girl started crying, and the kids looked scared and started to panic.

She didn't answer him. Instead she addressed the kids. "Soldiers, attention!" Dick looked at her disbelievingly.

Nothing happened at first, but then the kid with the bandages stood up straight as a soldier. "Praetor." he said weakly.

All the other kids looked from the boy to the roman woman. One by one they stood in line, straight and tall, and respectfully addressed her as, "Praetor." Even the little girl stood tall and said, "Praetor."

Once she had their attention she walked up and down the line as though inspecting them. "Et opus non est cum hominibus conversatio monsturum. Prepare for battle. I have one extra weapon, who can use it?"

"I can, Preator." A stocky boy stepped forward.

"Good you can take up the rear." She handed him her knife. The kid took it from her without any problem. She continued to look over the group of kids as if analyzing them. "I need someone to help this one." She pointed to the kid with the bandages.

"Preator." The boy began objecting.

"You're wounded, accept it. Your chance for battle will come soon enough." She ordered.

"I will help him." The little girl rushed up to his side.

"I'll help him too." Another boy walked to his other side.

"Good. As for ththe rest of you, find what you can for weapons."

"You can't be serious." Dick looked at her disbelievingly. "They're just kids."

"We're going to need every bit of help to get out of here."

"Because you set off the alarm!"

"It had to be done." She said unrepentantly. "Have you deleted everything?"

Dick turned back to the computer. He made an impulse decision and downloaded everything. He then planted a virus to destroy everything and any linking computers. "Done. But there are some blood samples out there."

"Then let's take care of them." She growled. There was a fierceness about her that intimidated him.

"We're ready, Preator." The stout kid said as he twirled the knife expertly in his hand. He looked ready for a fight.

"On me." Dick insisted.

"Until you need me." Preator stepped next to him.

He looked at her questioningly. He felt incense that he would need her at all, especially since he rescued her. "The elevator is a trap. Our best bet is to go up the stairs." He waited for her to find fault with that.

"What are we waiting for? An invitation?"

"We don't want their invitation." Dick grumbled as he opened the door.

"Too late." She said.

Sure enough a canister rolled into the room. Dick's instinct kicked in as he grabbed it and threw it back out the door and shut it tight. There was a loud bang on the other side. Dick opened the door and ran into the next room. Just as he had expected, it was a flash bang. All the men looked slightly disoriented. Dick wasted no time and took out the stunned soldiers quickly.

Preator walked in looking over the scene. "Where's the blood samples?" She asked, clearly unimpressed.

Dick opened up the fridge where the blood samples would be kept.

"How do we destroy them?" She asked looking around the lab.

"This ought to do it." Dick noticed a bottle of ammonia. He dumped the vials one by one down the sink, save one that he slid into his belt without her noticing. Once they were all emptied, he dumped the ammonia down the sink as well. "Now let's get out of here."

"Stay close." Preator ordered the kids.

Dick led them out of the lab and into the foyer, then to the stairs. They were empty for now. He rushed them in as the elevator showed another load coming down. He found a mop to slide through the handle, hoping that would hold them.

They were two flights up when there was machine gun fire from above. Everyone pressed against the walls. "Stay here." Dick ordered. "I'll go ahead."

Preator nodded at him in agreement. That was a first. He wasted no time in heading up the stairs taking care to check around blind corners first. When he peeked around one corner, he was greeted with a round of bullets for it. With his quick look he was able to count that there were at least ten men in high tech gear and a woman standing completely exposed behind them. He dug out his own version of a flash bang grenade and threw it without looking around the corner. When he heard it go off, he wasted no time in running around the corner and taking out as many men as he could before they regained their senses. He focused on the soft spots between their armor. A few rounds were fired from those coherent enough to fight back, but Dick was able to dodge them before taking them out. When he was satisfied that they were all down, he realized that the woman was still there, watching him with hungry eyes.

"Your trouble." She purred as she walked slowly toward him.

"You should probably get out of here." He tried to warn her.

"Maybe you're the one on the wrong side. They are the ones killing us."

"Kids are killing you?" Dick scoffed as he started backing away. He couldn't explain it, but everything about this woman put him on edge.

"Deliver the Praetor and the half-bloods to me, and I will let you live."

Dick found himself wanting to run back to the kids and the woman he now called Preator and bring them to this woman like a dog would return a ball to it's master. He fought the overwhelming feeling to do anything this woman asked of him. She was inches away from him, her scent tantalizing him beyond reason. "I, I . . ." He struggled to find the words. It was just so hard for him to think with her moist red lips inches from his. He could do it. He could run back and capture them easily. He could see the kids faces as he handed them over to this goddess. He could see Preator's face as he . . . . He came to his senses enough to weakly say, "No."

The woman raised a perfect eyebrow. "No? Then die!" Suddenly she lunged at him. Dick should have moved, but he couldn't. He stood transfixed at the horror that was swiftly going to end him. The beautiful woman's hair lit on fire, fangs grew out of her perfect teeth, and her perfectly painted nails became deadly claws aimed at his throat. He should have died, right then and there, but the woman's eyes widened in shock. It was then he realized that a golden sword was sticking out of her chest. He staggered back, trying to get his erratic heart under control. He watched as Preator retracted her sword and the woman, if you could call her that now, fell to the ground.

"Told you you would need me." Preator said.


	7. Chapter 7

Reyna watched as the empousa dissolved into dust. It wasn't the one who had tranquillized her. So that meant there was definitely more than one monster around here. The thought sent chills down her spine. She looked at the bat boy who had a wild look in his eyes. He was panicking. She wondered what he saw.

"What was that?" He demanded.

She approached him calmly and placed a steadying hand on his shoulder. "Now is not the time for discussions. We need to get out of here alive."

"But she . . ." He stared at where her body was.

"Snap out of it." Reyna said in her best Peator voice. "We're in the middle of a battle. There is only one thing you should worry about now: surviving. Now can you get us out of here?"

She must have reached him, as determined look replaced the wild look. "Stay close." He continued further up the stairs. Reyna motioned for the kids to follow. They continued all they way up to the top unhindered. "They must be blockading the farmhouse." He guessed.

"Any ideas, Batboy?" Reyna asked.

He wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Batboy?! My name is Nightwing, Preator. What's your's?"

Reyna coolly looked back. "Preator will do."

They had a stare down for a moment until one of the kids coughed awkwardly. He looked away and opened the door to the top level a crack and closed it quickly. "They're waiting. At least twenty men and fully armed."

"What else did you see?" Reyna asked.

He gave her a questioning look for a moment, then looked down as though trying to remember. "I'm not sure, maybe some women."

Reyna tensed. That could mean a number of things coming from a mortal. She looked at the kids who looked back with so much faith in their eyes. "Can you get us past?" She almost added 'the mortals,' but stopped herself in time.

"I'm thinking." He said irritably. He looked like he was thinking about more than just how to get out of here as he kept glancing backwards and then at Reyna's sword.

"Maybe I can help." The little girl practically squeaked.

Nightwing looked at her with doubt in his eyes, but Reyna wondered exactly what she had in mind. "How can you help?" Reyna asked.

"I think I can keep the men's attention, so they won't shoot us." She looked scared to death at the thought, but had a determined glint in her eye.

Reyna pondered the possibility. "You can't seriously be considering this?" Nightwing protested.

Reyna gave him an annoyed look. "Do you have any other ideas?"

"I've got some smoke bombs, that we could use." He offered.

"I can't do it if I'm coughing." The girl said worriedly.

"Okay. You take her place." She pointed to a boy with tousled brown hair to help hold up the injured kid. "When you're ready." She nodded toward her.

"Keep your faculties about you and follow me." The girl warned.

"I have your back." Reyna nodded.

The girl took a deep breath and began singing. "Now I've heard there was a secret chord that David played, and it pleased the Lord  
But you don't really care for music, do you?" Her voice was sweet and strong. "It goes like this the fourth, the fifth. The minor fall and the major lift." Every word and note struck a chord in Reyna. She was incredible. It took all of Reyna's will power to stop looking at her. Reyna opened the door to see several men with their guns pointed at them. When she looked at her chest, several red lasers were trained on her. "The baffled king composing "Hallelujah,"" The little girl sang as she stepped out from behind Reyna, still singing. The lasers moved to the girl, but she didn't falter. "Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah." Reyna ushered the kids out of the door. She had to grab Nightwing and pull him along behind her. The girl led them out of the house singing with such emotion that Reyna fought the tears that threatened to spill. She saw a couple of grown men crying as the girl walked by. The lasers attached to the guns were still trained on her, but no one fired. They were toward the edge of the clearing when Reyna noticed three fast moving trails rustling in the grass headed right for them. Reyna took position between the girl and the oncoming threat. Three dracnea jumped out of the grass and hissed threatening at them. Reyna reacted instantly and sliced through the monsters quickly. The girls voice faltered for a moment, but she continued to sing as they kept walking, looking about them warily.

"Why'd you do that?!" Nightwing asked with confusion. He looked like he was having a hard time processing things. Reyna again wondered what he saw.

They had kept walking away from the farmhouse and we're now deep into a field. The girl kept singing as though she were afraid of what would happen if she did stop. Reyna was just beginning to think that they had made it, when there was an unearthly screeching sound behind them. Reyna watched as three empusa burst out of the farmhouse. They glared at Reyna and Nightwing with fiery eyes that sent chills down Reyna's spine.

"Run." Reyna whispered. Then she found her voice. "Run!" She yelled. The little girl stopped singing and they all took off at a breakneck speed. Reyna stopped only to pick up the injured kid and ran with him over her shoulders. She was beginning to be very concerned for the boy, when she heard his labored breathing. The little girl was lagging behind and looked exhausted. She had over extended herself. A couple of boys were trying to help her.

Suddenly, Nightwing motioned for them to stop. "What do you think you are doing? We can't stop. We have to get out of here." She glanced nervously behind her.

"There's a trip wire here." Nightwing straddled a hidden wire and motioned with his hand where it was.

Reyna gave him a surprised look, but said nothing as she stepped over the wire. She was helping the kids over the wire, when Nightwing started running back toward the farmhouse. "Where are you going?" She called out in alarm.

"There's a SUV just up there. Get in. I'll be right back." He said as he disappeared into the night.

"Get back here. You can't fight them." Reyna called out.

There was no response. She made a frustrated noise in her throat, turned, and led the kids the rest of the way through the field. Sure enough, they stumbled upon a road, and there was a black SUV just like the ones at the clearing back at camp. If she had to guess, it was probably the same one. She opened the door to the back seat. Luckily it had a couple of rows, so they had plenty of seats. She got the kids situated, and then Reyna got in the drivers seat. She found the keys and placed them in the ignition, but stopped herself from starting the car. The auguries had been right. They wouldn't have been able to get out alive without a mortal. And he would be dead without her. They needed a mortal to fight whatever was going on. She needed him, preferably alive. She did, however, feel guilty that his brash introduction into her world might drive him mad.

She got out of the car. "Stay here." She ordered the kids. She started heading back to the farmhouse when there was rapid gunshots out of nowhere. She ducked instinctively. Then she saw him running towards her.

He grinned at her. "That should stop them."

Reyna looked over his shoulder and blanched. "No, it didn't." The three empousa were walking casually toward them. They're hair was on fire and their claws and fangs were out. It was a heart stopping sight.

"But, how did they get past the . . ." Nightwing looked stunned.

"Get in the car." Reyna said tersely as she drew her sword.

"I can fight, you know." He sounded put out.

"Not these. You can't fight these. If anything happens to me, get the kids back to the clearing. Promise me." Reyna locked eyes with him.

"I'm not leaving you." He said stubbornly.

The empousa were right on top of them. "Get in the car!" Reyna yelled one last time before engaging the empousa. They were wicked fast and Reyna was outnumbered, but she fought them ferociously, using all her training and even a few tricks Percy taught her. She managed to connect with one, turning her into dust. But one managed to slash at her arm, causing her to scream out in pain. She pushed herself past the pain and continued to fight. She barely dodged another slash, when a she saw too late that it was a trick to lead her right into another empousa' grasp. Out of nowhere a black object smacked the empousa in the face, giving Reyna the opening she needed to slash at the creature. She didn't even pause to watch her dissolve into dust when she managed to surprise the other one and cut it in half. She watched with satisfaction, when it dissolved into dust.

She turned to see Nightwing standing in front of the car with his face ashen white. "What was that?" He whispered. He sounded terrified. He should be.

"Get in the car." She ordered again as she moved to the front passenger seat and got in.

Nightwing obliged her this time and got in. "You're bleeding." He noticed.

"How astute." She said dryly. "Now drive."

Nightwing started the car, put it into gear and began driving. Then they heard a loud roar that shook the vehicle.

"Dive faster." She ordered. They weren't out of danger yet.


	8. Chapter 8

Dick pressed his foot to the floor, speeding the vehicle up at an increased rate.

"Turn on the lights!" Preator ordered with alarm.

"If I do that, they will be able to see us easier." Dick argued back.

"If you don't, we're going to crash before they get to us." She said iritably.

"No we wont, because I can see in the dark with nightvision." He tapped his mask.

She paused then said, "Oh."

"Dodge left, dodge left!" one of the kids screamed in the back.

"What?!" Dick questioned, but he swerved the vehicle to the left just in time to avoid an explosion that rocked their vehicle. "Theyve got RPGs?!" he said with alarm.

"Dodge right!" the kid screamed again.

Dick didn't hesistate this time. He immediately swerved to the right. Another explosion nearly blinded Dick with his nightvision on.

"Faster!" Preator ordered.

"I've got it to the floor!" He yelled back.

"They're getting closer." the kid said with fear in his voice.

"What is it?" Preator asked bluntly.

"What do you mean what is it?! What is going on?!" Dick could feel the panic rising again.

"This is not the time for questions." Preator snapped.

"Would you answer me if it was?" Dick looked at her to guage her reaction.

She didnt answer. She mearly gave him a calculating look, like she was determining whether he was worthy of such information. "Swerve left!" the kid yelled again.

Dick swerved and barely avoided the explosion. "Laistrygonians!" The husky kid announced. "Two of them, on the back of trucks."

Preator uttered something under her breath that sounded like it was a different language. "We're not out running them, so I am going to have to face them." She looked scared, but determined.

"But you're injured." Dick argued.

Preator leveled her eyes at him. "If anything happens to me, get the kids to the clearing." Dick opened his mouth to argue, but she interupted him. "Promise me." Her voice was low, but demanding.

"I promise." Dick found himself saying.

She nodded once and opened the sunroof. She climbed out and onto the roof.

"Dodge right!" the kid screamed.

Dick did and shielded his eyes from the explosion. He glanced in the rear view mirror to see Preator flying through the air and land on a towering structure in the back of one of the trucks. Her sword was drawn and she was visiously hacking at the structure.

"That is why she's Preator." the wounded kid said in awe as they watched. The structure, if possible, swipped at her. Everyone could hear her scream out in pain. Dick couldn't help it. He slammed on the brakes and swerved the car around to face the oncoming trucks, which also slammed on their brakes. Their lights were on, blinding them. Dick turned off the nightvision on his mask and turned on the lights to the vehicle. He stared and stared at the structures in the back of the trucks. The closest thing he could describe it as was a giant robot. Men got out of the trucks with guns pointed right at them.

Dick could feel his heart trying to beat its way out of his chest. "Stay here." He ordered the kids, who looked on with incredible fear.

"You'll need help." The stocky kid said as one hand gripped the door handle and the other gripped Preator's golden knife.

"No! Stay here!" Dick ordered as he crouched on his seat, then launched himself into the air and flipped toward the men. He grabbed his smoke bombs and threw them at the men in mid air. Smoke engulfed them and Nightwing was able to quickly knock them out, without them firing a shot.

Then suddenly there was a loud roar and the sound of a kid roaring back. Dick looked up at the structures and saw that large husky kid ferouciously stabbing the structure. No, not a structure, but flesh. It was flesh, but it was huge. Dick could only step back and stare at what was looking more and more like a giant. The husky kid was beginning to glow red as he attacked, as if he were in berserker mode. Dick forced himself to look at the other truck and saw Preator being squeezed painfully in the giants hand. Dick instantly reacted and threw a batarang at the monster's face. It managed to hit him in the eye. it roared out in pain and turned its attention to Dick. Dicks heart leaped painfully in his chest as the giant dug into the earth with his free hand and raised up a large ball of earth that he positioned to throw back at Dick. Dick backed up. Suddenly, the ball of dirt lit on fire. Dick wasn's sure he could dodge a ball that big while so close, but he got ready to leap one way or another. Preator freed her sword arm and stabbed the giant in the neck. It roared in pain and threw Preator to the side. Dick ran after her. And found her laying on her side. Her hair was matted with blood and her armor looked bent.

"Whoo!" What a fight!" The husky kid whooped as he approached Dick. He looked completely unharmed. Dick looked behind him to see what could have happened with the giants, but they were no where to be seen.

He turned his attention back to Preator. He gently laid her on her back. She was unconscious. She had a pulse, but it wasn't the strongest. She seemed to be having a hard time breathing. He managed to get her armor off, which helped. "Get her armor." he ordered the kid. He picked her up and carried her back to the car, where he placed her in the front seat.

"She okay?" a mousy haired kid asked.

"I think she'll be okay. It will be a few months before she can fight again." Dick tried to comfort the kid.

"Less than that." the injured kid spoke up. "Open that up and give her one square." he pointed to a pouch on the side of her belt. Dick looked at him questioningly. He nodded encouragingly. Dick opened the pouch and found a ziplock bag with lwhat looked like a giant lemon starburst. he held it up in the light to get a better look. "Don't touch it." the kid warned. "Give her about half, to be safe."

"I can't give this to her. She could choke." Dick argued.

"She'll be fine. Trust me." The kid said encouragingly.

Dick did as the kid instructed and broke the square in half and with his hand on the plastic he gently lifted her head so her mouth was open and placed the bar in it. He placed her head back down, and to his surprise she began chewing it.

"Put the rest back." The injured kid instructed as he watched Nightwing carefully.

"Great. Now that that is done, can we get out of here?" another kid looked worriedly around.

Dick seatbelted her and laid back her seat as far back as it would go. Then once he got in, turned off the lights, put it in gear and peeled out. Everyone was quiet, but nervous. The mousy haired kid stared out the back window. Dick wondered if it was because he was looking for more trouble or because of something else. Dick was looking out the rear view mirror himself. His heart wasn't trying to get out of his chest anymore, but he couldn't shake the feeling that he had just stepped into something that he wasn't supposed to. Everything played through his mind in flashes. It felt disjointed, like one minute, it was business as usual, then the next it was straight out of a horror movie. He kept glancing at the woman lying next to him. He had always heard the expression, curiosity killed the cat, or as the Joker once coined, curiosity killed the bat. But he had never felt closer to that than tonight. Ever since he met her, he found less answers and only more questions, and even more danger. He hated feeling off balance, but he could not catch his balance with her.

Thus his thoughts chased each other, as one by one the kids began to feel safe and dropped off to sleep. It was almost sunrise when there was a loud bang and Dick struggled to keep the car on the road. He managed to pull them off of the road amd stop the vehicle. He looked behind him to see six alert kids looking warily around.

"It's alright." he assured them. "We blew a tire." He got out of the vehicle to inspect the damage. He walked around the car and found the blown tire completely warped and in shreds. The other tires looked like they were barely keeping it together as well. The kids watched him as he touched a tire. "Melted." he determined.

"What do we do now?" a kid voiced his concern as he glanced at Preator, who was still asleep in the front seat.

Dick looked around the area.

"Maybe we can walk?" one kid suggested. Dick saw a sign up ahead.

"We've got two wounded, idiot. What about them?" The husky kid growled. He magnified his vision and zoomed in on the sign to try and make out what it said.

"Well we can't stay here! We could be attacked by . . ."

"Shh, you want to drive him mad." The wounded kid hissed.

Dick snapped his attention toward them. He wanted them to say more, but they seemed to have become aware of his presence and stopped talking all together.

He took a deep breath and turned to face them. "There's a town up ahead. I'm going to see about transportation."

"I can help steal a car!" the mousy haired kid said enthusiastically.

Dick stared at him disbelievingly. "No! I'm not stealing a car!" he shook his head and said. "Stay here. I'll be back. I promise." He added when all their eyes turned to him with such fear and trust.

"Don't worry. If anyone comes by, I'll take care of them." Husky flipped Preator's knife in the air and caught it.

Dick looked at him worriedly.

"I won't hurt any mortals." he assured.

Dick gave him a questioning look, but decided that that was the best he was going to get. As he turned, he glanced in the car and saw Preators face relaxed in a peaceful sleep. She was increadibly beautiful. A different beautiful than when he had first met her at the charity event. Then, she had been just a game to persue, but now she was a powerful warrior. That seemed to make ner even more attractive, in a way.

The town was over a mile away, and the road was desolate. Not that he wanted anyone to see him walking down the road in his Nightwing disguse. In fact, that would have to be his first order of business. Two hours later, the sun was just peaking over head, and he had finally reached the town. It was a small town with no shops, that he could see. But as luck would have it, he spotted a house with clothes hanging out on a clothes line. he snatched off a shirt and a pair of pants. He put them over his Nightwing disguise, as uncomfortable as he felt, he took off his mask. The good thing about it being a small town, was that people were friendly. He was relieved when an old pickup truck came by. He held out his thumb and the truck actually stopped. The driver was an older man.

"Hop on in." he smiled.

"Thanks for the ride. Do you know where i can find a bank?" He asked.

"There's a small branch in town, but it won't open for another couple of hours." He replied.

"Does it have an ATM?"

"Sure does."

"You wouldn't happen to know if there's a car for sale around here, would you?"

"Jerry's selling his car. Nice honda."

"How many does it seat?" Dick asked.

"Oh, its a small car. Fits two, maybe four."

"Know of amything bigger?"

"Sure, but, I don't think uou want it."

"How's that?"

"Well, how about, I show you. It's by the bank." When the old man pulled into the bank, he nodded across the street, at what looked like an apartment complex. Parked in front of it, with a for sale sign on it, was a bright orange ecoline van that looked straight out of the seventies.

"You've got to be kidding me." Dick stared at the offending van.

"Told you." The old man gave him a toothless grin.

Dick crossed the street and began looking the van over. Being raised in a mansion, he had always been in the fanciest of cars. This was something that just screamed, _No_. He was almost tempted to call Bruce. Almost. He knocked on the appartment door. No answer. He knocked again. He heard some yelling and then the sound of something falling, when the door flew open, a man appeared in a pair of boxer shorts and boots.

"Do you have any idea what time it is?" He looked angry.

"Around seven." Dick replied coolly.

"Then you would know that that is too early to be knocking on decent folks homes."

"How much for the van?" Dick almost cringed as he said it.

"You're here for the van?" He asked, surprised.

"How much?" Dick repeated. It was painfull enough to ask once.

"Oh, it's a good van. Had a lot a good memories in it, if you know what I mean." He elbowed Dick conspiritorially.

Dick wanted to hurl.

"I don't need it anymore on account I'm married now, and all. But it's a good van. She wants three thousand for it. She's kind of firm on that amount."

"Three thousand? It's not worth five hundred." Dick argued back.

"Sold!" yelled a voice from above them. He looked up and saw a woman in a nightgown leaning out a window.

"Nadean, that's not your desision to make!" the guy began yelling up at her. "Let the men talk."

"You said you would get rid of that thing over a year ago." She yelled down.

"And I've been trying." he yelled back.

"And this is the first offer you've ever gotten for it. You're taking it."

"I was going to talk him up."

"Lou, it's either that thing or me." she disappeared into the appartment and slammed the window shut.

Lou looked sheepishly between Dick and the bright orange van. Dick took mercy on him and even though it pained him, said, "I'll give you fifteen hundred."

Lou's face lit up and he extended his hand, yelling, "Sold."

Dick regretably went over to the bank, withdrew the money from his account and paid for the van in cash. When he got in, he saw a pair of aviator glasses hanging from the visor. He snatched them off and put them on, not even feeling sorry for stealing the guy's shades for the price he paid. When he pulled next to the black SUV, the looks on the kids faces, said it all.

"Don't ask." he glared, as he opened the van door for them to get in. Everyone filed in as he went to get Preator. She was still fast asleep. He did notice that her sword was missing. He picked her up, as gently as he could, and moved her into the front seat of the van. He glanced at the husky kid who gripped the golden knife tight. Then Dick noticed that he was glaring at the wounded kid, who didn't look so wounded now. He was sitting up and alert and was holding Reyna's sword. "What happened?"

"We had some visitors, but luckily it wasn't anything we couldn't handle." he quipped.

"How are your bullet wounds?" Dick ask suspiciously.

"Much better, thank you." he smiled.

He knew he wouldn't get much more out of him, so he got in the driver seat. He looked over at Reyna as he started the car. Then he noticed her arm. There was dried blood all over it, but the actual wound was halfway healed. "How in the . . . ?" Dick reached out to touch it.

"Are we going?" A voice from behind him startled him.

He looked back and saw everyone looking at him. He had that weird feeling again that he had become involved in something that he wasn't supposed to be. He put the van into gear and began driving.


	9. Chapter 9

Reyna stood on the top of a ballist looking out over her beloved Camp Jupiter and New Rome. Her troops were lined up ready for battle. Suddenly, one by one they all fell to the ground. It was like a domino effect. She watched helplessly as they all fell, slain by some unforeseen force. Then to her horror she watched an army of monsters break through their barrier unhindered and fall upon her helpless troops.

"Nooooo!" Reyna screamed.

"What the . . . ?" The car swerved violently.

Reyna became aware that she was in a van, an orange van if the color of the hood was any thing to go by.

"What was that?!" Nightwing asked. He was dressed in an oversized t-shirt and Levi's, but still had his mask on.

"What happened to the black car?" Reyna avoided his question. She really didn't feel like sharing her unsettling dream.

"The tires melted off, thanks to our last encounter." He said irritably. "This was the only option."

She looked behind her and saw all six kid's sitting comfortably. Some looked like they had been asleep, but had been woken up. She looked back at Nightwing. "Where are we?" She tried to figure out their surroundings. They weren't in the country any more. There were more buildings and businesses.

"Just about to enter San Francisco." He replied. "I promised to get you back to the clearing."

She studied him for a moment. He had gotten them out. It bugged her that she wasn't able to do it herself, but at the same time, he wouldn't have gotten out with out her. The only reason they had made it out alive was because they had worked together. She knew this wasn't over, and knew she would need help again, but she felt guilty throwing this mortal into the middle of their world. It was so irritating that she sometimes envied the ignorance of mortals. "Actually there's a better place to drop us off at. I really don't feel like climbing." She said as she shifted in her seat. Her ribs ached in response.

Nightwing didn't say anything for a while as he navigated the increasing traffic. "So are you going to answer my questions now?"

Reyna sighed. "Take the next exit."

"What were those things?" He persisted as he turned onto the exit.

"Take a left."

"Why are they after you?"

"Turn into here." She had him turn onto a private row where there were a row of warehouses.

Nightwing sighed in frustration as he followed her directions.

"Stop here." She ordered, when she found the right warehouse. He stopped the vehicle and parked it. "Everyone out." She ordered. The kids began filing out. She stayed in the vehicle and turned toward Nightwing. "Thank you."

"What?" He looked confused.

"It's not easy for me to admit that I need help. We couldn't have gotten out without you. When I reached out to the Justice League, I didn't realize what I was getting you into. I didn't know." She looked down, embarrassed at her own lack of proper intel.

"Hey, that's what we do." Nightwing smirked. "We rarely know what we are getting into."

"But you can walk away. You can go home and forget everything. This never happened." Reyna opened the door and got out.

Nightwing got out and caught her arm that she had wounded, but seemed to be fully healed now. "So that's it? You're just going to walk away? Not so much as a phone number? And what if I can't forget?" He said angrily, almost with a hint of panic.

Reyna thought about it. She removed her arm from his grasp and said, "There's a cafe I like to visit sometimes on the weekends. Dandelion Chocolate, 1 San Francisco Bay Trail. Thanks again for the ride." She eyed the large orange van behind them. She opened the side door to the warehouse and ushered the kids inside. As they filed in one by one, Nightwing stared at her. Once all the kids were in, she was about to enter herself when she had a last minute thought, "Oh, and you might want to wear your day clothes, Mr. Grayson."

Nightwing's eyes widened. "How did you know?"

"You talk to yourself, and your mask doesn't hide you as much as you think."

Nightwing blushed as she entered the building and shut the door behind her. The warehouse was filled with all of the Roman empire's vehicles for quests or other uses deemed worthy of by the senate. She was a little ways in when she felt the barrier as she crossed it. She heard the door open behind her. Nightwing was looking around.

"Can he see us?" One of the kids asked.

"No." Reyna sighed. "We are within the boundaries. Mortals can't see past it." She motioned for them to continue further back into the warehouse.

"Sweet! Is that a Rolls Royce?" The mousy haired kid asked in awe as he reached out to touch it.

Reyna slapped his hand and said, "Don't touch."

He held his hand close to his chest looking hurt. Reyna ignored him and continued leading them back until they reached the back wall, where she opened a door. Bright sunlight flooded the warehouse as they stepped out into it. Once everyone's eyes had adjusted, the kids all oohed and ahhed at the sight of what had become her home, and what would become their home.

"Welcome to Camp Jupiter." Reyna announced. "We should all get checked out by the medicus first and then we'll get you situated."

"Preator?" The once wounded kid asked as he returned her sword. Reyna hadn't even realized it was missing. She took it gratefully. The husky kid followed suit and returned her knife. "My papers listing my references and lineage were taken. Is there a way I can contact my father to get new ones?"

Reyna was troubled with this news. "Yes. Once you're checked out, I'll get you in touch with our mail system."

"Thank you."

"Reyna!" A voice called out. Reyna turned to see Frank running toward her. "We thought the worst when you disappeared. But you did it!"

Reyna gave Frank a somber look. "Not without help." She replied. "There have been some developments that we need to discuss."

"Senate meeting?" Frank asked.

"Not until tomorrow." Reyna agreed. "It's been a long night. Could you get these kids settled. Some have been wounded. I'm sure all of them are exhausted."

"You got it. I'll take care of them, you get some rest." Frank assured her.

"This one needs to contact his father." She motioned toward the kid who first broached the subject.

"I've got it. Stop being in charge for a minute and get some rest. That's an order." Frank tried to act stern, but she knew better. He was worried about her.

She nodded and went her own way to the bath house. She realized that her armor had been removed. At the moment it only made things easier. As she undressed and settled down into the warm water, her thoughts sifted through the recent events. She tried to separate the main facts. One, empousa were involved. Whether they were controlling the men or not, was in question, but she wouldn't put it past them. It was however against their nature to be this organized. Someone was behind it, but who? Two, the Justice League member had been vital in dealing with the mortals. He could be very useful in a mixed mortal/monster fight. She wondered if he would forget her, or if he would choose to remember. As much as any half-blood hated this world forced upon them, a small part of her hoped that he would choose to remember.


	10. Chapter 10

Dick was wired. Normally after a successful night of being a superhero, he would crash, but he had so many questions about the mysterious girl, that sleep was not an option. He sat at his computer in the beach house he had rented for his stay in San Fransisco looking up every strange word they uttered. 'Praetor: each of two ancient Roman magistrates ranking below consul.' Well that didn't help. Listrgonian brought up nothing but error messages. She spoke a different language, but he hadn't been able to remember any definitive words except 'mortalies,' which he knew to mean mortal, but that didn't help him much. He ran the facial recognition software again on the image of her face, which yeilded no results, again. On a whim, he googled woman with hair on fire. That was no help and even had a disturbing video of some woman screaming and running around with her hair on fire. He tried researching who owned the farm house, but got a lot a subcompanies owned by several other companies. So not much progress there. He studied the information he had downloaded from their computer, which made even less sense.

It was midday when Dick succeeded defeat and crashed. He lay down and closed his eyes, but all he could see was that beautiful woman lunging at him and literally transforming before his eyes into something not of this world. The nights events played themselves over and over. Each time feeling more like it was completely surreal. Twice he had been overcome by strange feelings, overcoming all of his senses, and he hated not being in control. And then there was Preator. She was a fierce warrior, of that there was no doubt, but it shook him seeing her so close to death. Then ten hours later she wakes up and acts like nothing had happened, like this was a normal occurrence. She was human, but not quite. He couldn't explain it. And then there was the question as to why she insisted on being dropped off at a warehouse stuffed full of cotton, and how did she get past all of it, when he couldn't even get over it? It was like a wall. Nothing about her or the evening made sense.

Needless to say, he didn't sleep as well as he had hoped. He moaned at the thought that he would have to wait a week to meet Praeto at that shop she told him about, if she showed up at all. He didn't feel like getting blown off after everything that had happened. He decided to scout out the clearing the next night. He perched in the same spot as last time. Everything was completely empty, as if last night had not happened at all. He waited, but no one showed up, and nothing of any interest happened. He went back to the rental, and tried to sleep, but again, the nights events tortured him with unanswered questions that he could not find. He woke up to his computer calling to him. He dragged himself over to it and opened it up to see Bruce trying to contact him. He really didn't want to talk to him, but he knew if he didn't, he would track Dick down. He took a deep breath and answered the call.

Bruce's face appeared on the screen. He scrutinized Dick for a moment and said, " You look awful."

"Thanks. You should see yourself." Dick quipped back. "What do you want?" Dick wanted this call to be over.

"I hadn't heard from you in a while. Just wanted to make sure you were okay. Where are you?" Bruce asked.

Dick wanted to laugh at the question. He wasn't nieve enough to think that Bruce didn't know where he was. "San Fransisco." He replied.

"What are you doing there?" Bruce questioned.

Dick thought about telling him everything. The mysterious girl at the bar, the strange and dangerous evening. But in the end he couldn't bring him to tell him. "A change of scenery. I'm considering going to school here." He hadn't, but it sounded ligit.

"Really? What's wrong with Gotham U?" He sounded disappointed.

"Nothing's wrong. I just need a change of pace." Why was he lying to him? He'd never out right lied to him before.

"Well, if you're sure. I hope it helps. Let me know if you need anything."

"Will do." Dick replied. Bruce ended the call and when Dick closed the call screen, Preator's mysterious face popped back on the screen. "Who are you?" He mused.

The week couldn't go by fast enough. He visited the clearing every night, and every night was a disappointment. At last, Saturday morning arrived. Dick was at the shop the moment they were open. It was an eclectic shop that only served chocolate. As much as Dick craved something stronger, he was stuck with hot chocolate, milk chocolate, and a million other choices to do with chocolate. And in order to stay in the shop, he had to buy chocolate. He found a seat next to the window and waited. And waited. And waited. Doubts began filling his mind. Maybe it really all had just been a dream/nightmare. Maybe she didn't exist. A woman like that certainly couldn't exist in this world. But he stayed. It was late afternoon, when a taxi pulled up and she stepped out. He nearly choked on his chocolate. She was wearing jeans, with a light airy peach blouse, and tennis shoes. She looked so ordinary, that he thought that he had mistaken her. She calmly walked in not showing any signs of having almost died just a week ago. She spotted him immediately and sat down at his table.

"You didn't forget." She said with some surprise.

"Reyna! Good to see you as always." A waitress came up to her.

"Hello, Bev. How's collage?" Preator, uh, Reyna asked as if she had known her her whole life.

"Killing me, but that's how it goes." Bev laughed.

Reyna smiled at the girl and said softly back, "That's how it goes." There was a sadness about her as if she was referring to something else.

"Your usual then?"

"Please." She smiled back.

"Coming right up." Bev smiled and left.

"So does Reyna have a last name? It's only fair since you know mine." Dick grinned at her.

"Reyna will do for now." She smiled mysteriously. That mysterious smile was driving him crazy.

"I believe you said you would answer my questions. Tho, I have to admit, that making me wait a week was just cruel." Dick smirked.

Her smile disappeared and she looked down at her lap. "So I did." She looked back at him with her shoulders squared and a look of determination, as though ready for battle.

"Who are you? "Why did the kids call you Preator?" He blurted out.

"Because I am Preator. I, along with my college, am Preator of the twelfth legion of Rome."

"Rome? It sounds something out of the history books."

"Rome was a huge part of history. Still is." Dick gave her a confusing look. "Ask another question.

"How did you heal so fast?" Dick leaned in eager for information.

Reyna smiled softly, hesitated for a moment then said, "Let's start with the basics, first. And please let me know if you get too overwhelmed."

"I'm welmed." Dick replied back.

Reyna gave him a confused look before deciding to brush it off. "Have you heard of the Greek myths?"

"Who hasn't? Especially with Wonder Woman claiming she is a daughter of Zeus."

Reyna literally cringed. Dick watched her carefully. "Wonder Woman is a daughter of Zeus." She stated simply. "But she's not the only daughter of Zeus."

Dick stared at her trying to grasp what she was talking about. "Are you from Thamiscaria? Are you an Amazon?"

Reyna actually laughed. Bev brought her a large cup of hot steaming cocoa and then left. "No, I'm not an Amazon. The thing you need to realize about Wonder Woman is that she is everything she claims to be, but it's not the full story. That has been taken from her when she chose to reveal herself and work with mortals."

"Mortals?" Dick sounded out the word. "As in me?"

"Yes. How much do you actually know about Greek mythology?" She asked as she blew on her hot chocolate.

"Uh," Dick strained to remember. "Hercules? Fighting monsters?" As soon as he said it out loud it sounded foolish, but it rung a bell at the same time.

"Everyone always remembers Hercules." She murmured. "Yes, Hercules." He felt like she was treating him like a child. "And Hercules was the son of?" She asked encouragingly.

"Uh, Zeus." He stared at her, a strange thought forming in his head. "Are you a son, uh, er, daughter of Zeus?"

Reyna pulled a sour face. "There are other gods other than Zeus." She said dryly.

"Your not saying that your," he started. She looked at him encouragingly with those mysterious eyes. "That your a demigod?"

"Demigod can mean different things in different cultures. We call ourselves, half-bloods." She smiled back.

"We? You and the kids." Dick remembered how the girl sang so beautifully that no one could move let a lone shoot. And how he thought he saw the husky kid glow red as he fought.

"Hmm," Reyna finished her sip. "Yes, it's been an interesting week. They have settled into camp nicely."

"Camp?" Dick questioned.

"It's the only place where we are safe. No monster can cross into camp. The kids will now be trained by the best. They'll learn how to defend themselves, how to fight, how to survive." She said the last part quietly.

"A couple of them looked pretty comfortable with that already. I'm sorry, but just how many are in the collective 'we' that you are talking about?"

Reyna pondered the question. "That's a complicated question. We have at least a thousand in the legion, which doesn't include those who have served and now attend collage or those that have settled down and had kids of their own, like the kid that was wounded."

"I don't understand."

"The kid who could fight so well, had been fighting most his childhood. Turned out he was a son of Mars. No surprise there."

"What?"

"The kid that was wounded, his father was the son of Mercury, making him the grandson of Mercury."

"Wait. You're going to fast. Your saying that they are sons of planets?"

Reyna sighed impatiently. "The Greek gods liked to fool around. There is no secret in that. When Rome conquered Greece, the Greek gods changed as the Romans adapted them. Ares, the god of war, became Mars, the Roman god of war. Hermes, the god of messengers, travelers, and thieves, became Mercury."

So they were, I mean, you all are . . . ? Who are you the daughter of?" He blurted out.

Reyna raised an eyebrow. "I am the daughter of Bellona, the Roman goddess of war."

Dick took a deep breath. He felt like he was trying to catch it. "So your saying that there is a camp in San Fransisco that has about a thousand demigods in it and you're Preator over them?"

"Roman half-bloods." Reyna corrected. "But yes. There is another camp in Long Island for the Greek half-bloods."

Dick felt like he had just been hit in the gut. Reyna just smiled and took a sip of her cocoa. "So that's how you heal so fast?"

Reyna frowned. "Partly. I would heal at the same rate as you, being half mortal, if it weren't for the food of the gods, nectar and ambrosia. Unicorn powder is also very beneficial."

Dick remembered the square yellow bar, he had been told not to touch as he fed it to her. "Mortals can't touch it." Dick guessed.

Reyna raised an eyebrow, "or they would be burned up into ash." She finished for him. "Too much in a half-blood results in the same fate. You're catching on."

"And the woman with her hair on fire?" Dick looked at her carefully.

"An empousa. Very dangerous. Normally, Hecate keeps them under better control, but they now seem to be running rampant. You might better associate them to vampires."

Dick felt his heart race. "She seduced me, to kill me."

"Or use you." Reyna sipped her cocoa.

"Neither sounds appealing."

Reyna smiled grimly. "No death sounds appealing."

"And those creatures who threw fire bombs?"

"Laistrygonian giants." Reyna supplied.

"Giants?" The thought of giants roaming the world shook him.

"Mmm." Reyna confirmed.

"There are Giants?" He said alarmed.

"They normally mind their own business, except for Laistrygonians. They like Olympian blood too much."

"They eat you?" Dick said disgustedly.

"Hazard of being a half-blood." Reyna looked down and smiled sadly. He could tell she was trying to make light of it, but that it bothered her more than she let on.

"Then why didn't they kill you. Why keep you alive?"

"That's what worries me the most. The mortals were running tests, but I can't think of what for."

"I've never seen monsters like that hunt Wonder Woman." Dick pondered out loud.

"And you won't."

"Why not?"

Reyna sighed. "Wonder Woman isn't a half-blood, like us, but she knew of our existence."

"Knew?"

"Her memories of us were taken away from her when she chose to fight with the Justice League. I guess she had no problem with being open about who she was, which I admire, but the gods didn't want her to over share, so they removed her memories and knowledge of the camps and the children of the gods. I recommend you not try to talk to her about it. It could result in some headaches, literally."

"You sound like you have had some experience with this."

"Not personally, thank the gods, but I did see a friend get completely wiped. He only knew his name and that was it. Luckily once he completed the task the gods wanted him to do, he got them back."

"That's . . . disconcerting."

"Trust me, that's not even the half of it. But she has had her memory loss for centuries, doing a great work, and we've been able to save the world just fine without her." Reyna took a sip.

"Save the world?"

Reyna eyed him. "Perhaps I'm oversharing."

"No. It's just . . . a lot to take in."

"I'm sure. Think of us as the line standing between you, the mortal world, and all the enemies of Olympus that would see Olympus fall and the world as we know it return into chaos."

"Why can't we see them? The Giants looked like metal structures."

"The mist."

"The mist?"

"Hmm. It's like a veil that shields you from our world."

"How come I saw her change then? Her hair lit on fire, and she had fangs, and claws. I started to see the giants too."

"That is a good question. I've been pondering the same question. The only thing I could come up with was that it was almost your last moment. Perhaps you see clearer when your about to die?"

Dick looked down at his empty cup. "That's promising." He said ryly. "I've seen a lot of weird stuff, magic even, but that night, this, definitely takes the top five."

"You've seen magic?" Reyna looked surprised. "Do you believe in magic?" She asked carefully.

"At this point, it's hard not to."

"Hmm, perhaps that contributed to you seeing." She took another sip.

"I saw you use magic to get into the charity ball." He smirked as he tried to gage her reaction.

She smiled mysteriously, "Someone's been spying on me."

For some reason Dick actually blushed. "And what were you doing in the bushes?" He snarked back.

"Testing you." She replied seriously.

"And I passed?" He gazed back into her exotic eyes.

"Obviously, or you wouldn't have shown." She took another sip. "Which brings us to business. I don't believe we've seen the last of the kidnappings. As usual the monsters are targeting the young and the untrained."

"Wait, before we get started. What was it that that girl did to me, I mean to the mortals?"

"Oh, her? Yes, she turned out to be a daughter of Venus. Her mortal mother, it turns out, is actually a famous singer. She asked me not to tell anyone who she is though. And I take my secrets seriously."

"That much is clear. So when she sang, . . . ?"

"It was laced with charm speak." Reyna supplied.

"Charm speak?" Dick tried to figure out what that meant.

"It's a gift that Venus or Aphrodite sometimes gives her children."

"Wait, her mother is Venus."

"Mmm-mmm." Reyna hummed in agreeance.

"And her mom is a famous singer?"

"Yes?"

"How is that possible?"

"When it comes to the gods, it's best you don't think about it too much. Business?"

Dick took a steadying breath. "Business." He confirmed.

"The woman who shot me was an empousa. Of that I have no doubt. I had thought that we were dealing with an all mortal threat, thus the reason we sought mortal help." She looked at him.

"I'm not sure why. I saw you take out those guys. You could take on any mortal." Dick questioned.

"Except we're not supposed to. We defend mortals from monsters, not fight mortals. Otherwise we'd be like Wonder Woman."

"Oh." Dick pondered that.

"But now we know that monsters are using mortals to fight us, which obviously puts us into a bind."

"Obviously." Dick let her continue, doing his best to keep up in this new world.

"The resources is what concerns me. The last time we fought someone with this many resources, it took a toll." She looked sad again.

"I've tried looking into who owns it, but they got it under so many sub companies that it's like a shell game." Dick shared his own failure.

Reyna eyed him, "You _have_ been doing your research." She was quiet for a moment as she seemed to be studying him. He got more uncomfortable.

"If I access the Justice Leagues main computer, I can use it to monitor kidnappings and check out the companies in more depth."

She raised an eyebrow. "You can do that?"

"Uh, yeah. We do it all the time . . . to save the world." He smiled cheekily.

She smiled back. "You should know, that there is a prophecy involved."

Dick's smile dropped. "Prophecy?"

"You will go to the dark city and . . . 'find' a mortal hero.

Together you will face your enemies.

This is not a single battle but a war.

Beware the immortal mortal." Reyna finished.

"That's the prophecy? Kind of vague, isn't it?"

Reyna took another sip, "They usually are, unfortunately. Just enough to set you on the path."

"You've had a prophecy before?" He looked at her questioningly.

"I've had heard more prophecies than one should in their lifetime, but this would be the second one that has been specially toward me."

"What was the first?" He asked then realized that maybe it was too intrusive a question.

Reyna pursed her lips together as if she had just swallowed something sour. "I was tasked with returning the Athena Parthenon, ending the civil war between Greek and Roman half-bloods."

"You had the Athena Parthenon?" Dick struggled to keep up with what she had just said. If only he had paid closer attention in class. Did they even cover the Athenan Parthenon?"

"No?" She said defensively. "The Romans did when they conquered Greece."

"And you gave it back?"

"It was more complicated than that. It's not important now. "

"Okay. So you found me in the dark city. We fought our enemies together, I'd say. It's a war. That doesn't sound good. And what does it mean to beware the immortal mortal? Isn't t that kind of, I don't know, an oxymoron? I mean, either you're a mortal or an immortal. Not both."

"I'm not sure. Often times, things aren't revealed in the prophecy until it happens." Reyna looked worried.

"So . . ." Dick suddenly felt awkward. He hadn't felt this nervous around a girl since he was first adopted. "Do you have a number I can call." Reyna gave him a strange look. "You know to contact you, should I find anything."

"You can call the camp." She pulled out a napkin and wrote down a number. "Generally speaking' half-bloods avoid phones. That's how monsters track us."

"Oh. _Really_?" He looked at her disbelievingly.

"Don't expect long conversations." She handed him the napkin.

"Oh, uh." He grabbed another napkin and wrote down his cell number. "Here's mine, if you have to contact me." He held it out to her.

She smiled as she took it. "I'll get in contact with Lupa and see if we can have more advanced notice of incoming half-bloods. I look forward to working with you." She stood up and held out a hand. Dick took it and they shook hands.

"Uh, I'll walk you out." He stood as well. She smiled warmly back and they left. He helped her get into her cab. "Uh, see you later."

She smiled and waved in response as the cab pulled out. Dick made his way to his car feeling like his world had slightly tilted. He had some more research to do, on Greek monsters. And maybe he should take some classes on the subject, Latin too.


	11. Chapter 11

After Reyna's meeting with Nightwing she was able to report to the Senate that Nightwing had agreed to help them. Erik was going crazy over the fact that Nightwing was helping their camp and now knew of their existence. He kept going over facts about Nightwing, what his skill sets were, his history with Batman, and so forth.

It was decided however they would seek the Auguries for further instruction. Brooke ripped open a stuffed animal and looked into the stuffing. She stared at it for quite a while before she said, "They will not return here you need to find the kids elsewhere and protect them."

"How do I do that?" Reyna said exasperated.

"I don't know." Brooke shrugged her shoulders. "It doesn't say."

"Thanks for the help." she muttered.

"One thing is clear, this takes priority over your other Praetor duties." the head of the Senate said. "Frank can take over all of your duties until this matter is cleared up. You need to focus on saving these kids and the future of Rome."

"Agreed." another senator spoke up.

"All who agree, say, 'aye.'" The head of the Senate declared.

The vote was unanimous. Reyna sighed and accepted her fate. She went to go and call the number Nightwing had given her.

He picked up on the second ring. "Hello?"

"Mr. Grayson, er, Nightwing, it's Reyna." She said awkwardly.

"Hey. Hi. What's going on?" He replied.

"I can't talk long, but the auguries were consulted."

"That doesn't sound good."

"They're not going to capture the kids here at camp anymore. We have to go find the kids and protect them. But there was no indication on how we're to go about doing that. We need to meet to discuss our options."

"Sure. How about tonight?"

"Sounds good. Where at?"

"How about your cafe?"

"My cafe? Fine. I'll see you there at six."

"See you at six." He agreed. She hung up the phone feeling excited and nervous.

She arrived at the cafe promptly at six to find him waiting for her. She entered the cafe and took her seat across from him. He wore jeans with a white button down dress shirt.

"Praetor Reyna." He greeted. "Or would you prefer just 'Praetor.'"

"Reyna is fine, Mr. Grayson." She said as she motioned an affirmative to Bev, who was stuck at the register and was looking to see if she wanted her regular. "We are, after all, going to be working with each other."

"Dick. My name is Dick."

"I'm sorry, but I'm not calling you that."

He looked at her disbelievingly. "Well you're not calling me Richard."

"Is that your real name? Why? Don't you like it?"

"I just have never been a Richard." He said it as though it were a silly name, which Reyna didn't quite understand.

"Well I think that it is a distinguished name. It suites you, Richard." Reyna said with a smile. Before he could object she changed the subject. "So any ideas on how we can find half-bloods so we can protect them?"

He hesitated before he said, "Actually, yes."

Reyna raised an eyebrow. "Really."

"Well, I am a member of the Justice League. Hacking just happens to be one of my superpowers."

"What are we hacking?" Reyna inquired.

He took a deep breath, as though he were about to dive into a long explanation, when he looked at her strangely. "Do you know what hacking is?"

Reyna realized that he mistook her Roman attire she previously wore for someone stuck in that age. She narrowed her eyes. "Depends, are we talking about the removal of a head or breaking into someone's computer?" She said bluntly.

He smiled embarrassedly. "Right. Well, I was going to hack into some systems that keep an eye on some of that stuff. The question is, how do we narrow the field."

"Do I want to know which systems you're going to be hacking into?"

"Probably not. Some of the more high-profile government systems, the Justice League. You know."

"Hmm. And you'll be looking for what?"

"Kidnappings. But there are a lot of kidnappings. She we need to narrow it down to what could possibly be half-bloods. Do you have any ideas?"

Bev appeared with Reyna's hot chocolate. Reyna smiled graciously at her and thank her for it. She stirred it for a moment pondering the question.

"You'll be using the internet, I presume."

"Well, yeah."

"My concern about that is that monsters use the internet to hunt us down. What if your search for half-bloods leads the monsters to them?"

"What do you mean 'It leads them to half-bloods?'"

"We have a saying, 'a Half-Blood with a cell phone is a dead Half-Blood.' Monsters use cell phone towers, radio waves, and the internet to be able to smell out half-bloods."

He seemed to ponder this information for a little bit then asked, "Did the cell phone have an encryption on it?"

"It only lasts so long. The Vulcan kids have been trying for some time."

"I see. How long exactly?" he asked.

"Not sure, I never asked. We just . . . avoid them."

"Do you think you could find out?"

"I suppose."

"Then I can limit the search to that amount of time. It still begs the question how can we narrow the search?"

"Well," Reyna hesitated, "most half-bloods are diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia." Reyna drew out the sentence, reluctant to share such sensitive information.

"Really?"

Reyna shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "Will that be enough?"

"That'll help." He gave her a curious look and asked, "I don't suppose you could call those Vulcan kids and find out now?"

Reyna glared at him.

Richard cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Just asking."

"I'll call you." She said bluntly.

"So," he looked uncomfortable all of a sudden, "when I thought the girl was a dog, that was . . .?"

"The empousa covering their activities." She answered the question straightforward.

"Can all monsters do magic?" He asked.

"Some. Most are just hidden by the mist. Empousa are probably the most competent in magic as they are followers of Hecate."

"Hecate." He said it as if he were trying to remember who she was.

"Goddess of magic." Reyna supplied.

"Right" he acted as if he had known all along, but Reyna knew better. She smiled into her hot cocoa as she took a sip. "So wait a minute. I thought the gods were on your side. If they are her followers . . . ?"

"They were more than happy to follow Hecate when she was on Saturn's side. But things have been resolved since then and Hecate now supports the gods. But her followers didn't like getting beat. Since then, they have gone rogue, you might say."

He was quiet for a while until he said, "Huh." He took a sudden interest in his hot chocolate in front of him. "So is there a way to overcome their magic?"

"You mean the seduction." She smiled. He look down embarrassed. She always found it somewhat humorous at how uncomfortable guys got around the discussion of empousa. "I can't speak from experience, but from what I understand, once you recognize the effects, you can resist the feelings and overcome them."

"Really?"

"I know one guy who's not even affected by it now. But I have a theory about that."

"Like he's been exposed so many times it doesn't affect him?"

"That's a possibility. But that's not my theory." Reyna blushed.

Richard leaned forward. "Now I am curious. What is your theory?"

Reyna stared at her cup. "The person in question is madly in love with his girlfriend."

Richard raised an eyebrow. "What? Like true love?" He said with a smile.

Reyna smiled shyly back. "Like I said, it's just a theory."

"But you think I can resist it?" He turned more serious.

"You already started to before I arrived." She pointed out.

Richard stared down at his cup and pondered this information. "I've transferred to Berkeley. I signed up for some Greek and Roman mythology classes. As well as Latin."

"Isn't Latin a dead language?" Reyna asked slyly.

"So I thought, until I heard it." He looked up at her. "I don't like being left out of the conversation." He stared deeply into her eyes.

Reyna blushed again. "Well, I didn't want to scare you off."

"I am curious, what exactly did you say. I only caught one word, 'mortalis,' meaning mortal."

Reyna was impressed. She would have to be more careful around him in the future. "What I said exactly was for them to be prepared. There are monsters among the mortals."

Richard was quiet for a moment until he said, "I would have thought you were just being cryptic."

Reyna laughed out loud. "If only."


	12. Chapter 12

Dick had been busy the next few days, between looking for half bloods every half hour and classes at Berkeley, which he took seriously for once. He even did extra work in researching the monsters that attacked him.

His search for half-bloods proved fruitful, despite the several interuptions. He was able to locate several kids that had both ADHD and dislexea throughout America. He ran a watcher system on the subjects, so if any questionable activity took place near their vincinity he would get a notification.

Classes were a whole different matter. He had never found Greek Mythology or the history of Rome very interesting, but now, that he knew that they existed, he dove into the classes, never missing one, something he hadn't done since he graduated from high school.

Batman thought moving to San Francisco was a bad idea. Dick wouldn't be surprised if he had taken to spying on his classes to see if he could find any reason for him to return back to Gotham University. He was in the middle of a complicated search through the Justice League's system, when Batman came up on the screen.

"You look busy." Even though it was Batman on the screen, it was Bruce's voice.

For a moment, he thought he had been caught. "You know how it is with school." He tried to sound nonchalant.

"Right. Berkeley." He said it with distaste.

"You know, Berkeley is considered a prestigious school. What do you want?"

"Why are you doing this?" Dickwondered if he was talking about going to Berkeley or sneaking around the Justice League computer. "What was wrong with Gotham U?"

"Nothing was wrong. I just needed a change of pace."

"San Francisco, really?"

"It's nice here."

"Hmm." He made a noise in his throat that showed his displeasure. "Do you really think it will help you get over Wally's death?"

Dick pulled a facee. He just had to bring that up. "This has nothing to do with Wally. Leave him out of it. I've got homework to do." And he cut off the connection.

Heknew he was shutting him out and a part of him felt guilty about it, but another part needed to get away from Batman. Not to mention he had no idea if he could explain the world he just fell into, of if he even wanted to.

Two days after he had started monitoring half-bloods, he got a notification at one of the schools in Bakersville. There was a stalker at the school. What caught his eye was that the stalker was considered strange looking. He figured if he had seen a stalker that was actually a monster and he couldn't see through the mist, he would probably think it was strange-looking, too.

Calling Reyna to notify her was more difficult than he thought, on account he kept getting a busy signal. When he finally did get through, a bored voice said over the phone, "Camp Jupiter messaging service."

"Praetor Reyna, please."

"Who's calling?" She asked.

"Uh, Nightwing."

"Does she have your number?"

"Yes."

"She'll call you back within the next 24 hours."

"No, wait, I need to speak to her immediately, it's urgent."

"There's a line to use the phone. She'll call you back as soon as possible."

"But . . ." The phone hung up.

Not one to be dissuaded, Dick tried again. The phone rang again, and the same bored voice said over the phone, "Camp Jupiter messaging service."

"This is Nightwing of the Justice League, and I have a Half-Blood being kidnapped. I suggest you get Praetor Reyna on the phone right now, unless you want another half blood missing! Now!"

"I'll have her call you right back." The voice seemed much more alert now.

Fifteen minutes later his phone rang. "Hello."

"There's a Half-Blood being kidnapped?" Her voice was protective and worried.

"Not yet, but a twenty-four hour wait is not going to cut it."

"Sorry about that. I'll make sure it doesn't happen again. So what's going on?"

"Do you have a ride to Bakersville?"

"I think I can get one."

"Great. Meet me at the elementary playground."

"What's going on there?"

"I'll explain it when you get there. Remember you're not supposed to be on the phone too long."

"Right. Okay, I'll see you there as soon as I can."

"See you soon." He hung up the phone, gathered the information he needed for their meeting. He felt a thrill that he hadn't felt before a mission in a long time.

Bakersville was a quiet town that was mostly farms. He pulled up to a small elementary school, with a well used playground that had seen better days. It was still early evening., But there was no sign of Reyna. He ran a hand nervously through his hair. A black SUV pulled up and Dick felt himself tense. Reyna stepped out and was dressed in her full Praetor uniform, complete with a purple cape.

She walked quickly up to him. "Now will you tell me what's going on?" She demanded.

"There hasn't been a kidnapping, yet. But there was a stalking here with a strange looking person, so the report says."

"A monster found one. Good catch. So what do you think our next move should be?"

"I was hoping you could tell me. You're the Half-Blood expert. How do these things go down?"

"Depends. Every story has been different. And with mortals involved, it makes it something new."

"I have the kid's address.". He held up the kids file. "Do you want to go stake it out?"

"Sounds like a plan." Reyna smirked.

The kid didn't live far from the school. The first thing they noticed when they approached the home was an eerily similar looking van. Reyna drew her sword the moment she got out of her vehicle. Dick motioned for her to stay put. He snuck up to the van, it looked around the side at the small house. It was one of those houses that looked like it had been built in the 1930s. Everything looked quiet, until he heard an ear-splitting scream.

Reyna and he reacted at the same time, both rushing into the house. A guy was holding a woman down, he was screaming over and over again, "My baby, my baby."

Dick did a couple of swift kicks, hitting him in the stomach and head, effectively knocking him out. Reyna had already run up the narrow stairs.

"Are you all right?" He asked the woman.

"My baby! They're going to kill my baby!" the woman exclaimed as she got up and started running up the stairs. Dick followed close behind. he watched the woman run into a room while Reyna came out of another room. He followed close behind the woman. The room was a nursery. It was dark, the only light coming from the hallway. He didn't see anything at first, but then noticed a woman carrying a sleeping child in her arms. His head rested against her shoulder. Her features were soft and beautiful, and she looked like she was just putting the child to sleep.

"Such a handsome little boy." She cooed.

"Please, please." The mother bagged.

"I'm just trying to help him." The woman looked at Dick, and he could feel himself beginning to agree with her. He felt that familiar wave that he had felt not so long ago the farmhouse. Then her appearance suddenly changed. Her hair lit on fire, her teeth grew fangs, and her fingernails grew into claws. Dick looked behind him and saw Reyna had just entered the room, her sword pointed toward the woman.

The empousa screeched at Reyna and jumped out the window.

"Nooo!" The mother screamed.

Reyna didn't hesitate and followed her out the window. "Will get him back." Dick tried to comfort the mother has he followed Reyna right out the window.

He landed in a roll, popped up, and followed after Reyna in the chase. The Empousa jumped into the van that had been waiting, and it took off.

Reyna ran for her vehicle. Dick hollered out, "We'll take my bike. It's quicker." he pulled out an extra helmet, handed it to her and hopped on, putting his own helmet on. She climbed on behind him her sword still out and ready. He revved the engine and took off. She tightened her grip around him has he sped after the van. He couldn't help but notice that her thighs were pressed against his.

He raced down the streets trying to figure out where the van could have gone to. He had a good idea they would try to get to a major highway, and headed in that direction. It wasn't until they were almost to the highway that they saw the van getting on the on-ramp. Dick wove in and out of traffic as raced to catch up to the van. Reyna clung to him tighter. It wasn't long before they caught up to the van. Reyna held her sword up, ready to attack. They were just pulling up next to it when the van door slid open. A man's head poked outwith a gun pointed right at them.

Dick pushed a button on his bike, which instantly created a shield in the front of the bike. At the same time, Reyna slashed out with her sword and destroyed the back tire, causing the van to start swerving all over the road. Dick instantly backed off has he watched the van struggle to stay on the road. The man only got a couple of shots off that hit his shield, before the van was forced to stop.

Jake brought the motorcycle to a stop. Rana got off began slowly approaching the van. Dick pushed out the kickstand quickly, and ran fot cover to get a better idea of where the attack would come from. The man got out of the van and pointed his gun at Reyna. She hesitated at the sight of the gun pointed at her. Dick reacted instantly and swung out his grappling, which wrapped around the man's gun so he could pull it out of his hands. He then preceded to tackle him to the ground, knocking him out. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Reyna give him a small smile.

"Aren't you the handsome one." the same soft voice that he had heard earlier said. He turned to face her. The beauty of the woman had returned to her. She looked just as gorgeous as before. He could feel his body react to her. He remembered what Reyna had said about being able to fight it. He forced himself to look away from her and saw another gun pointed toward him and Reyna.

"Look out!" Reyna shouted.

He leaned back just in time to see a claw barely miss his face. He backed up a few steps as he watched Reyna impale her sword through a dracnea's body.

Dick shook his head to snap himself out of the trance he had been in. He looked around and saw that they were surrounded by women with tails that slithered around ground like snakes. The top part of their body was covered in green scales, long claws and a head full of snakes. Reyna expertly dodged and swung her sword. Dick did what he could to dodge the claws and hissing snakes as he managed to make his way to the one mortal, who seemed to be waiting for an opening. Dick didn't give him a chance when he hit him around the head. He watched as Reyna took out one after another.

A dracnea lunged at him, screaming, "You see too much." He thought he was dead for sure, until something barreled into it out of nowhere. It was a giant wolf, the biggest he had ever seen. Its head was level with his, and its teeth where as large as fingers. It tore into the dracnea with its teeth and claws until it disolved into dust. The wolf then turned its gaze toward him. He felt his heart stop as he readied himself for a fight.

Reyna calmly stepped up beside him and knelt on one knee with her head bowed, her neck completely exposed. The wolf growled at him. Reyna hit his leg with her hand and said under her breath, "Kneel."

Kneeling was the last thing he wanted to do, but he did as she asked and knelt. The wolf stopped growling and approach them as tame as a pet dog.. It placed a paw on Reyna's knee and licked her face.

She smiled and let out of chuckle. "Thank you. It's good to see you too." He realized she was talking to the wolf. The wolf then walked over to the van, hopped in, began lickng the little boy that lay asleep in the van.

"Mind telling me what's going on?" Dick asked in a low voice.

"It's one of Lupus' pack. She's come to take him to the wolf house."

"Wolf house?"

"Do your research." She snapped. "before you can enter Camp Jupiter you must be trained by Lupa and her pack at the wolf house."

"But the mother?"

"If we do our job right, she'll be one of the lucky ones to see her son again." Hewatched as the wolf cradled the boy in her giant mouth without piercing his skin. The wolf gave them one last regard and then ran into the night. "Hecouldn't return home. The wolf house is the safest place for him during these dark times. The pack will protect him."

"You want to tell the mother or shall I?" Dick wasn't just going to let it go.

Reyna turned to look at him. "How about we both go? I've got to pick up my car anyway."

He smiled back at her. "Together then." He got on the bike and put on his helmet. Just as she started to get on he asked, "So what happened to that empousa lady?"

"She disappeared."

"What do you mean disappeared? Can she do that?"

"Yeah, she can do that." Reyna said riley. "She ran when she saw a member of Lupa's pack." Reyna put her helmet on, ending the conversation.

Dick started his bike, revved it, and took off, feeling her arms wrap around him one more time.


	13. Chapter 13

Reyna observed the headquarters that Richard had created for them. She noticed some flying vehicles, lots of computers, as well as the motorbike and other cars. Of course, everything was black. He really had a thing for black, she noted.

"What do you think?" He asked.

"Do you have a rule that you have to wear black or is it just preference?"

"Well it does help hide you in the darkness. But I guess you could say I adopted it from Batman." He smirked.

"Have you found anything new?" She said as she pointed at the large array of computers. She was still a little weary of being so close to technology, so she kept her distance.

"Quite a bit, actually. So I have been taking what data I have collected during the allotted time on the internet, and I have compiled it here to look for patterns."

"You think there are patterns?"

"It's always possible."

"And?"

"And it's too soon to tell."

"So what now? We just wait?"

"I have it set for alarms to go off should any kidnappings actually occur. But, yeah. In the meantime, we analyze what we have and wait. I thought that maybe you could use your expertise."

"I assume you mean on half-bloods, since I'm no good with computers."

Nightwing grinned.

"Let's go over what you got." Reyna sighed.

Reyna was looking at profile after profile, when Richard interuppted her. "So I read something interesting."

"Oh?" Reyna said as she looked at another profile.

"In Ancient Rome there were two Preators."

"Still is." She glanced at him and saw him giving her a curious look. "Who do you think is taking over my responsibilities at camp, while we take care of this?" She held up the profile.

"Oh, huh. So are you the senior Preator? Is that how you got this job? Or how does that work?"

"We are equal. I've been Praetor longer than him, but . . . ."

"So you are the senior Preator."

"No, we are equal, but we work well together. As for how did I get this job, I guess you could say that I was selected."

"So what's her name?"

"His name is his business." She gave Richard a stern look.

"His name? The other Praetor is a guy?"

"We're not the Amazons." She scolded.

"Sorry, I just assumed. So you know the Amazons?"

"I assume you mean where Wonder Woman is from. No. I know a different branch."

"There are branches?"

"Just one. They own . Their more modern."

Richard's face paled at the name. "You're joking." He croaked.

Reyna laughed. "Actually, no. My sister's the queen."

"You have a sister? What's her name?"

"None of your business."

You're awfully sensitive about names. Don't you trust me?"

"Names have power. When you give your name, you give away that power."

"So you're afraid I'll have power over you? I don't think anyone could tell you what to do." He gazed into her eyes, and for a moment, she felt like she couldn't breath.

A beeping noise went off on his computer. He turned to address it, giving Reyna a moment to recover. "One of the kids I had earmarked was taken to a mental institution."

"A mental institution? I was just reading a profile of that."

"What?"

She picked up the profile of of a seven year old boy. "It says he freaked out at school and began attacking another classmate."

"Similar scenario." Richard mused as he stared at the screen. "Uh, oh."

"Uh, oh, what?"

"This kid was sent to Arkham."

"So was this one. That can't be a coincidence." She looked over at him and saw that he was visablly worried. "What?"

"Arkham holds the most dangerous and insane criminals."

"Where is it at?" Reyna asked worriedly.

"Gotham."

"Isn't that on the other side of the country? This kid is in Arizona."

"Someone is seriously funding this." Richard mused.

"We have to get them out." Reyna looked at him worriedly.

"We have our mission." Richard smirked.


	14. Chapter 14

Dick could feel the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. The mere mention of Arkham Asylum had him on edge. There were so many things wrong with this picture. One, the asylum held some of Gotham's most dangerous criminals. If there were under hand dealings going on there, how much of it was affected by the criminals. He shuddered to think about it. Then there was the fact that he was returning to Gotham, Batman's territory. There would be questions, should he find out. Questions that he wasn't sure he was ready to answer.

He looked over at Reyna, who seemed focused on the mission at hand. She seemed quite at home in the jet, yet looked oddly out of place in her Roman armor.

"Aren't you from Gotham?" She looked over at him.

"Kind of." He felt himself tense for some reason.

Reyna gave him a knowing look. "Who's keeping secrets now?"

Dick didn't respond. Why didn't he just tell her? Truth was, he had kept people at a distance for so long that he didn't know how to be honest anymore. They arrived in Gotham in no time. Dick made sure that the stealth mode was on as he picked his landing spot carefully. Luckily, there was a forest near the asylum, and he found a nice clearing in the middle of it. They unbuckled themselves and made their way to the back, where Dick lowered the back hatch. The forest was quiet and promised no surprises, but like all of Gotham, looked dark and foreboding.

"Where's the asylum?" Reyna asked. She looked eager to get going.

Dick however, wasn't looking forward to entering the asylum. "Through here." He pointed through the trees, making sure to mask all his emotions, just like Batman taught him.

They walked silently through the woods. Reyna kept one hand on her sword, ready to draw at a moments notice. "Have you been here before?" Reyna asked.

"A couple of times." Dick replied tersely.

"What's it like?" She asked with a hint of worry.

"About what you'd expect an asylum to be like." Dick forced himself to keep his nerve. They reached the end of the forest and looked at the building for the first time. It was at least three stories tall and looked like an old mansion that had become decrepit. An iron fence surrounded the property, but Dick was pretty sure it was just for looks.

"So what's your plan on getting in?" She looked at him expectantly.

Dick switched his vision to X-ray, but the building had so many rooms he couldn't make out anything. "I can't make out much from here. We'll have to sneak in and explore it. That is, if you can sneak." He smirked at her.

"I can sneak." She looked affronted.

"In that?" He eyed her armor.

"If you think I'm fighting without my armor, you're mistaken. Monsters are in on this, just as much as mortals." She glared at him.

Dick raised his hands in surrender. However, it did pose a difficulty.

"Are you breaking the kids out?" A strange voice said out of the blue.

The reaction was instant. Reyna's sword was out and pointed at her opponent. Dick was instantly in a fighting stance. Their opponent, however, let out a yelp and hid behind a tree. It looked like a kid, no older than eight. Reyna lowered her sword. "Who are you?"

The kid peeked around the tree. "Lenny. Are you Preator Reyna?" He asked shyly.

"I am."

The kid stepped fully out behind the tree at this news. "It's an honor to meet the Roman that united the half-bloods with the return of the Parthenon Athena."

Dick looked at Reyna with new curiosity. Reyna blushed at the praise. "I didn't do it alone." She then narrowed her eyes and asked, "Are you a faw. . ., a sayter?"

"Yes." He looked relieved to have been recognized. Dick tried to remember what a sayter was. Weren't they half goat? He looked closer at the kid. He wore baggy jeans and small sneakers. But there was something about the way he stood that seemed off.

"What are you doing here?" Reyna questioned.

"I found a half-blood, and I was charged with protecting him until he was ready. But something went terribly wrong. Someone manipulated the mist. Someone made that kid look like a snake. John would never hurt anyone. He thought he was protecting everyone. He should not be in a place like this."

Reyna gave Dick a grim expression. Dick however had a thousand other questions. "Why would they send someone so young to protect a demigod?"

"I'm twenty next month." Lenny stuck out his chest and stood taller. He was clearly offended by Dicks comment.

"Sayters mature slower than humans. Which is why they make perfect scouts for the Greeks." Reyna explained.

"Wait, Greeks?" Dick was now confused.

"I thought I mentioned the other camp, the Greeks. They use sayters to scout out half-bloods."

"Not wolves." Dick confirmed.

"No," Reyna said this as though it were obvious.

"I still am having a hard time understanding how someone so . . . ," he motioned to Lenny, "can be a protector."

"I'm very advanced for my age." He crossed his arms disgruntled. "I know four songs. And I'll have you know, no one in my class knows a lullaby. That's why they let me be a protector. Who are you, anyway?"

"I'm Nightwing."

"What kind of a name is that?" Lenny looked at him strangely.

Dick was about to answer when Reyna interrupted distractedly, "He's a mortal." As if that explained his dress and name.

"Ohhhh." Lenny said as if he understood perfectly.

"It's my code name. I'm with the Justice League." Dick tried to explain. He had never met so many people who didn't know about the Justice League before.

"A lullaby!" Reyna shouted out at random. Dick thought that Reyna was thinking the same thing as him, that there was no way that this kid could be a protector, when she blurted out, "I figured out how we are getting in."

"What?"

"We won't have to be stealthy if everyone is asleep."

"We don't have time for that?" Dick looked at the sky, there were at least a few more hours before nightfall.

"Lenny can play them to sleep." She beamed at the sayter.

"You'll fall asleep too, unless you cover your ears." Lenny warned.

Dick looked at the two of them incredulously. Everything in him screamed that this wasn't real, but he had to shove that to the side as he had been proven differently. He sighed dejectedly. "What about the cameras?"

"What about them? They can't film, magic." Lenny leaned against the tree.

Dick looked to Reyna. "Maybe they can't film magic, but I'm not magic. I can't get caught."

"Who are you afaid of catching you. I thought you were from this area?"

The question made him hesitate. "I just don't want to have to explain why I'm here."

"Fair enough."

"I have an idea. I think I know where the breaker box is for the cameras. I'll just put them on a loop. When we're done, I'll take it off."

"Okay." Reyna agreed.

"You'll still fall asleep." Lenny reminded him.

"I've got some ear plugs in the jet. I'll get them."

"Perfect." Reyna nodded in agreement.

Dick made his way to the breaker box. He found the right wires and was able to put the cameras on a loop. Even if there was magic, it wouldn't record it. He then made his way back to the jet, thinking back on all the strange things he had already seen, all because he had to follow that mysterious girl with a golden knife. He quickly grabbed the ear plugs and headed back, wondering what else faced him in this world he had entered. When he got back, Reyna was deep in conversation with Lenny, who was looking like he was ready to faint.

"He won't be safe at home. He has to go to camp. You must report this to Grover immediately. No half-blood is safe." Reyna emphasized.

Lenny nodded vigorously in response, but he was looking a little sick.

"We ready?" Dick asked as he handed Reyna a pair of earplugs.

"Ready." She put the earplugs in her ears.

Dick did the same, knowing that it would cancel out all noise. They looked at Lenny who pulled out some reed pipes. Strangely enough, Dick thought he looked more like a sayter with the pipes. He blew into them, but Dick couldn't hear anything. He gave Lenny the thumbs up, Reyna did the same. And so they began making their way toward the asylum. Dick led the way, with Lenny behind him, and Reyna taking up the rear with her sword drawn.

They walked right past the gates and toward the building. Dick saw a couple of dogs sleeping peacefully a few yards away. He opened the main door. He saw several eyes turn toward them and then close sleepily, as workers yawned and found a comfortable place to lay down. It was working! Dick almost couldn't believe it. He scanned the building with his x-ray vision, looking for kids. He saw several fugures he did recognize, Joker, Scarecrow, Two-Face, but no kids. Then he caught something out of the corner of his eye. He probably would have missed it if it weren't for the bulky man lying in the middle of a doorway that had it been closed, would have seamlessly looked like a wall. He motioned to the other two. Reyna nodded once, and they stepped over the man and into the room.

It looked like a regular room with nothing special about it. There was nothing of interest, but Dick saw the faint glow of something on the opposite wall. He felt around and finally found a switch. A small square panel of the wall opened to reveal a keypad. Dick hooked his computer up to it and in seconds a wide section of the wall opened up. The door itself was at least three feet thick. Dick and Reyna exchanged a look. She gripped her sword. Dick got out two batarangs, just in case. Dick suddenly felt at a disadvantage without his hearing. Walking into a dark, unknown room was when he relied on all of his other senses. He caught a glance of Lenny who looked like he was about to faint. His eyes were wide with fear, but the pipes remained at his lips. He quickly pulled out his light and turned it on. A dark dank staircase wound down before them. Dick led the way down.

When they reached the bottom, there was a single door, with no lock or key pad. Dick grabbed hold of the handle, Reyna raised her sword, but Lenny grabbed hold of Dick's hand which was gripping the door. He shook his head violently. He motioned for Dick to take out the earplugs. He did so.

"Monsters." He managed to squeak.

Reyna touched, Dick on the shoulder, indicating that she would lead this part. As much as Dick hated it, he let go of the handle and let Reyna lead. She wasted no time in flinging the door open. Light flooded over them as soon as the door was opened. It took a little bit before Dick's vision adjusted, but nothing could have prepared him for the horror he saw before him. A man in a lab coat had a kid cut open on top of a table. It looked as if he were performing a routine surgery, or an autopsy. But what was more disturbing, was the woman sinking her teeth into the kid's throat. Lenny let out a loud, "Baaah."

Reyna let out a small gasp before yelling, "How dare you!" She attacked with a viciousness, he had not seen. The empousa had been caught off guard and was only able to block a couple of Reyna's attacks, before her sword ran through the empousa's chest.

Dick forced himself to face the man, who had stopped his little surgery. He looked around with a dazed look and then back down at the kid. "What? What have I done?"

"Are you telling me, you know nothing about this?" Dick said in disgust.

The man looked back with horror in his eyes. "Leave him alone." Reyna looked down at the kid then back up at him. "He was being controlled." Dick suddenly remembered that beautiful woman's face, enticing him to kill, to turn on Reyna. If Reyna hadnt killed her, would he have? Would he have been just like this man?

Lenny looked sadly down at the kid. "It's always the ones who didn't make it to camp that are forgotten."

Dick realized that Lenny had been in charge of protecting this kid, and now he was dead. "I'm sorry. I know you were in charge of protecting him."

"No I wasn't."

"But you just said . . ."

"Not _this_ kid." Lenny pointed at the dead body.

"Then . . .?" Dick exchanged a glance with Reyna, who pointed to another door.

Dicked tensed. Lenny put his pipe up to his lips. "Monsters?" Reyna questioned.

Lenny shrugged, "Most likely. This whole place smells of monsters."

Reyna flung the door open and rushed in, with Dick and Lenny right behind her. It was a much larger room, with jail cells lined against the walls. Some men in lab coats stood around some medical equipment conversing until they were rudely interrupted. There were three other men holding guns, patrolling the cells. Then there were several strange creatures that looked like a mix of several things. They had the face of a dog, body of a human, but webbed hands and feet.

Reyna immediately engaged the strange creatures, while Dick charged at the next threat, the men with guns. They fired a few rounds, that Dick easily dodged, as he jumped up and slammed his elbow into the first man's face. He whipped around and kicked the next man in the head and then flipped around to hit the other man in face. He threw in a few extra moves and quickly dispensed of the men. He quickly noticed that Lenny had the scientists tied up in some weird plant thing that he was controlling with his pipes. Reyna dispensed of the last of the strange creatures with an impressive slash of her sword. She turned to look at him, and he noticed a few cuts along her neck and face.

"Are you alright?" Dick worriedly asked her.

She gingerly touched the scratches and looked at the blood that was now on her hand. "Nothing vital. I'll be fine." She walked past him to the cells. Peering through the slats were kids far too young to have such things happen to them. She shook one of the jail doors, then noticed the keyhole. "Where's the keys?" She asked.

Dick checked the guards, but found nothing. Then he looked over at the scientists. One of them was looking decidedly away from them. That was a guilty face if he ever did see one. "You got something for me?" Dick asked.

"You're on the wrong side. They're dangerous." He shouted.

"Is that why you killed that kid? What is it, exactly, that you think you know?" Dick narrowed his eyes. "Are you doing all of this?"

The scientist stuck his chin out as though trying to act brave. "You have no idea what they are?"

"Kids, who haven't even had a chance to live? Cursed to die because of who their parent is?" Reyna stormed towards him with tears streaming down her face and a dangerous glint in her eye.

"Woah, woah." Dick grabbed her to prevent her from doing something she'd regret.

"You're the one who knows nothing!" She shouted at him as Dick guided her away.

"Lenny, can you open it up a little so we can check his pockets?" Dick asked as he waved at the plant thing.

"Sure." Lenny played a little trill that sounded suspiciously like 'Doorway to Heaven.' The plant made a little hole that Dick stuck his hand in and found the pocket, he also found an ID badge.

"Got it." Dick dangled the keys. Reyna snatched them out of his hand and headed straight to the cells.

"Lenny?" A little voice called out. Reyna opened the cell and a little boy around eight stepped out. "Lenny!" The kid ran and hugged the sayter.

Reyna opened three more cells, but stepped back hastily from the last one with her sword drawn. Dick wasn't sure why she was so tense, but he soon found out when a kid much bigger than the others stepped out. Lenny bleated at the kid. Dick was trying to figure out why everyone was so tense, when he realized that the kid had one eye in the center of his forehead.

"Is that what I think it is?" Dick asked.

"A cyclops." Reyna confirmed.

"Please don't hurt him." A little voice called out. A chubby little girl with black hair that had messy braids stepped out and put a gentle hand on the monster. "He's my friend."

"What's your name?" Reyna asked.

"George." He said in a deeper voice than a kid his age ought to have.

"Is it possible for there to be a nice monster?" Dick asked.

"On rare occasions." Reyna said tersely.

"Yeah, like Tyson and Ella and Mrs. O'Leary." Lenny said excitedly.

The cyclops gave a big sniffle and then wiped his nose on his sleeve. He may look full grown, but he acted like a toddler. "So I guess he's coming with us?" Dick guessed.

Reyna looked at the cyclops distrustfully, but didn't contradict Dick. Dick spotted some computers. He sat down at one and began looking through their research. "So," Dick glanced at the ID badge, "Edward Luntz. Can I call you Ed?"

"No." The scientist glared back at him.

"So Ed," Dick disregarded his previous objection, "what's with all the blood samples. One kid isn't enough?"

"Everyone's blood has variations. We needed a large enough pool of samples. They are unnatural."

"Shut up." Another scientist muttered.

"And let me guess, anything that doesn't fit into your cookie cutter world doesn't belong." Dick had heard the biased argument too many times.

Ed opened his mouth to speak, but something dropped to the floor at their feet and then instantly exploded. Dick was knocked back. When he regained his senses, he saw a crater where the scientist had been standing. The computers were completely fried. "Is everyone okay?" Dick called out to the room.

"I think so." Reyna responded.

"Guess that's our que to leave." Dick looked around at the room. "I don't have any more earbuds, though."

"No need, if we run fast enough, I think I can make us not noticeable."

"We'll have to risk it." Dick said as he looked around. "Let's go." They made their way out, Lenny playing his pipes in the lead with his charge, John, with him. It sounded eerie and Dick had a strong desire to not look at Lenny. Instead he found himself staring at Reyna. She had picked up the dead body of the kid. She stared down at the child cradled in her arms. Her expression was somber and something else. Did she blame herself? They walked quickly through the asylum and soon they found themselves in the woods. Far away from the asylum.

Lenny stopped playing, and Reyna stopped looking at the kid. She noticed him staring, and Dick found that he could now look away from her. He tried to disregard the blush he felt heating his cheeks. "So, back to camp?" Dick began leading them to the jet.

"I want to go home!" One of the boys whined.

"You can't." Reyna stated flatly. "They know what you are now. They'll come after you. But there is a place you can go, where they can never hurt you again."

"You're going to love Camp Half-Blood." Lenny said as he skipped along, he suddenly stumbled and one of his shoes fell off, revealing a black cloven hoof.

"Stupid shoes." Lenny grumbled as he quickly put it back on.

"Why are they after us?" The little girl asked.

"Because you were born special. You were born to become great heroes, and they don't want you to do that."

"But what about my dad?" A boy asked.

"You can call him when you get there. We'll explain everything."

"We're going to take that?" John said excitedly as he pointed at the black jet in front of them.

"Um, well, don't you have rules on how to get to camp?" Reyna asked Lenny.

"Get there by any means necessary." Lenny said excitedly as he ran on board. "I can't wait to pull up at camp in this. Hedge is going to be so jealous."

The kids rushed on. Reyna looked less than pleased about it. Dick motioned for her to enter, saying, "I can't wait to see Camp Half-Blood."

She gave him a look of disapproval. "You mean _if _you could see it. No mortals allowed."

Dick frowned at that. But as he closed the hatch, one thought comforted him. At least he would have an idea of where it was.


	15. Chapter 15

Reyna pointed out a clearing close to Camp Half-Blood, and Nightwing landed there, expertly. She couldn't help but be impressed. He opened up the back hatch, and Lenny did a weird kind of goat skip as he led the kids out. Reyna picked up the body of the dead kid and followed them. "I'm going to talk to their camp director about a funeral for him and about what's going on. You don't mind waiting, do you?" She addressed Nightwing.

Nightwing, who had been about to follow them stopped. "Sure. I'll just wait here." His nonchalant comment didn't fool her. She could see the curiosity written all over him.

The kids followed Lenny up the hill and each one ran right past the barrier, except one. He had been lagging behind, even stopping on occasion with a worried look. When he reached the barrier, he could not pass. Reyna was completely confused. She lay the dead kid down, mumbling for Peleus to watch over him. She then guided the kid back down the hill.

"I don't want to go there." He said with a relieved look as they walked away. Nightwing was still outside the plane and gave Reyna a questioning look as she brought the kid to him.

Reyna mouthed, "Mortal." as way of explanation. "I'll be back as soon as I can." Reyna reassured them.

She quickly made her way back up the hill, picked up the dead kid and walked through the barrier, past the Athena Parthenon and Peleus the dragon. The kids were filing into the farmhouse as Reyna walked down the hill. She was beginning to draw attention as campers began gathering in small groups to watch her pass by. Reyna placed the body on the porch before she entered. The kids were looking around the house with curiosity.

"This is an unexpected surprise." Chiron said as he wheeled himself into the room.

"Chiron, sir." Lenny bowed respectfully.

"I thought you were only watching one?" Chiron raised a questioning eyebrow at Lenny.

"Sir, we need to talk." Reyna interrupted.

Chiron turned his attention toward Reyna. "Lenny why don't you get the orientation video started."

"Yes, sir." Lenny bowed and guided the kids to another room.

"So, Preator Reyna, how did you end up bringing so many half-bloods to Camp Half-Blood?"

Reyna took a deep breath and told Chiron everything. The dreams she had been having of half-bloods being kidnapped, Lupa's visiting her, the senate meeting, and the auguries. Then she talked about getting Nightwings help, and what they had discovered on their missions about monsters working with mortals to kidnap half-blood kids and studying their blood in labs while holding them captive. It took all of Reyna's strength to not cry when she told of finding the half-blood being cut open.

"That is disconcerting." Chiron stroked his beard.

"Will you give him a burial?" Reyna asked.

"Of course. And a meeting with the counselors and the sayters is in order. Will you stay, so the information is accurately reported?"

"It will have to be quick. Nightwing is waiting on me, and he is too curious for his own good." Reyna didn't think that Chiron needed to know about the mortal child that was with the other half-bloods.

"We'll call an emergency meeting." Chiron nodded and left to call the councilors.

A few minutes later the kids emerged from their orientation video with wide eyes. Lenny looked around for Chiron. "He went to gather the councilors for an emergency meeting." Reyna explained his absence.

"Ah, I'll just take them to get settled then." Lenny looked uncomfortable but eager.

Reyna nodded in agreement and watched as he led the kids out of the farm house. It was another half hour, before everyone had arrived. The room became crowded with kids from each god and goddess, major and minor. Reyna didn't recognize anyone. Everyone she had become acquainted with had left camp. She had seen some of them in New Rome, moving on with their lives, going to college, while she and Frank remained as Preators. Chiron managed to get the kids settled down somehow. Reyna explained the situation to everyone. After that, she didn't pay too much attention as they squabbled and talked in circles. The senate wasn't much better, but at least the councilors understood one thing: half-bloods were being targeted by mortals, who were supposed to be unaware of their existence.

Eventually, she lost interest and left the room altogether. The body had been removed from the porch. She looked out at the main fire that was always burning. The body of the kid was being wrapped up in gauze next to the fire. A little while later, the Athena cabin came out with an orange flag with Camp Half-Blood written on it. They draped it over the kid. Reyna thought it fitting. They were his family, claimed or not. Shortly after, Chiron with the rest of the councilors filed out. Chiron blew into a large conch shell and a long even note sounded. Campers from everywhere gathered around the fire. He was silently placed on the fire as campers paid their respects. The bright orange flag that had been draped on his body caught fire, but instead of burning, it changed the flags color to a shiny black with the insignia of a white chain. The campers murmured in wonder at the change in the flag before the flames finally consumed it. Chiron had his head solemnly bowed. He looked so sad. Reyna had an idea of how he felt. Death is inevitable, but to see it so young, rocked her.

She couldn't stand to see more. Chiron must have sensed her thoughts as he raised his head. His sorrowful eyes caught her long enough to help her to steady her emotions. She raised her hand in farewell, he nodded in return, and she turned her back on the scene. She walked as dignified and as quickly as she could back to the plane. The back was still open, so she walked in. Nightwing was sitting at the main controllers with the kid leaning over him watching everything he was doing. She plopped in the co-pilot's seat, drawing their attention.

"How'd it go?" Nightwing asked.

"Fine." Reyna said tonelessly. She didn't feel fine.

Nightwing hesitated for a moment. "This is Charlie Dunham, from Gotham." He turned toward the kid, who grinned at Reyna.

Reyna raised an eyebrow.

"We've been talking, and I've been looking into things and found out he's special."

"Oh? How so?" Reyna wondered since he was clearly a mortal.

"He's a meta." Nightwing looked at her expectantly. When Reyna's expression didn't change, he elaborated. "Some mortals have a mutated gene that if activated, which no one knows when or how it will happen or even if it will ever be activated, they develop powers."

"So you think he was mistaken for a half-blood?" Reyna wondered.

"What's a half-blood?" Charlie interjected.

Nightwing ignored the kid's question and addressed Reyna's. "Not sure, but could be. I'll have to look into their files some more before I'll know for certain. In the mean time, I thought we should get him back to his mother."

"In Gotham," Reyna clarified. "In the plane?"

"Well, we were just looking into that. I could borrow a vehicle."

"Stealing?" Reyna looked appalled.

"No." He looked offended that she would even suggest such a thing. "I mean borrow. My . . . mentor has some extra vehicles, he won't mind if we borrow one." He sounded like a kid talking himself into stealing his dad's car.

"Are you sure?"

"Sure. Once we're in range, I just need to hack into the remote and I can summon it to us."

"Why can't you just take us to the car, since your mentor doesn't mind?" She questioned, seriously doubting that his so called mentor wouldn't mind.

Nightwing smirked. "I can't go into your lair, you can't go into mine."

Reyna stared at him disbelievingly. "But your a mortal." She objected. "And it's not a lair."

"Tomato, tomato. No offense, it's a superhero thing." He smirked again.

Reyna huffed as she turned in her seat to face forward. He got Charlie buckled up as the kid once again asked, "What's a half-blood?"

"You'll find out when you're older." He winked.

"Everyone always says that." Charlie grumbled.

Nightwing closed the hatch, started up the plane and took off. "I also got that dead kid's file. He doesn't live too far from Gotham. Thought you would want to visit with the mother.

Reyna turned her face away, not able to trust her expression. "Sure." She mumbled. A heaviness settled over her chest making it hard to breath. The feeling wasn't new, but it was getting stronger. She just needed to hold it together a little while longer.


	16. Chapter 16

Dick was looking at the display on his arm where a blinking dot showed where the Batmobile was. But he found himself constantly glancing toward Reyna. She hadn't moved from the copilot's seat and had taken to staring out of the side window with her hand propping up her chin. He noticed that thescratches across her neck were fading. Shehad been like this ever since her visit to Camp Half-Blood. Dick had never seen her like this before: quiet, introverted, reflective. He wondered if something had happened during her visit. His display beeped at him, forcing him to return his attention to it.

"Is it almost here?" Charlie stood on his tippy toes to try and look.

"Almost." Dick said calmly, but inside he was trying to control the panic that was beginning to rise. Batman was calling. "Will you do me a favor, bud, and check on Reyna for me?" Dick glanced at Reyna again as his display beeped at him again. She hadn't moved.

"Okay." Charlie said with exaggerated disappointment.

Dick moved further into the woods before answering the call. "Going somewhere?" Batman's cowl covered face appeared on the screen.

"I just need to run a quick errand tonight. Nothing dangerous."

"Nothing dangerous? Then why need it at all?" Batman questioned.

Dick took a deep breath. He was going to have to give Batman something. After all this was mortal business. The thought stopped him for a moment, as he glanced again to where the plane was. Heturned his focus back to Batman. "I found a kid. I'm just taking him home."

"That's not your job description. Drop him off at the police." Batman ordered.

"No, I need to see this through. I think they wanted him for something."

"Who?"

"Not sure." Dick replied honestly. "But I don't want the kid leaving a paper trail."

"Does this have anything to do with Arkham Assylum?" Batman's eyes narrowed.

Dick had thought no one noticed them, as far as he knew with magic. "What happened at Arkham?" He asked innocently.

"A secret room was discovered with jail cells and a cutting table. Computers were destroyed. It reminded me of your handiwork."

Dick smirked. "I don't know what your talking about."

"Don't get in over your head." Batman's voice was firm but Dick swore he heard a note of concern in his voice. He didn't want to tell him that he thought he was already in over his head. "Anything I can do to help?"

"Keep an ear out for kidnappings." Dick decided it couldn't hurt to get the justice league involved. "Children kidnappings.""

"I will expect an explanation soon." He could feel Batman's searching gaze behind the cowl.

"Of course." Dick lied easily. Batman cut off the connection. The display returned and the Batmobile was parked right by the plane. Dick gave a slight sigh of relief. He made his way back and found Reyna and Charlie by the plane, looking over the Batmobile.

"Oh, wow. Are we riding in it?" He asked excitedly."

"No, I brought it so we could look at it." He said sarcastically. "Batmobile open." Dick commanded. The Batmobile doors automatically opened. "Of course we're riding in it. Get in."

Charlie enthusiasticly dove in. Reyna was more cautious.

"Does this use the internet?"

"It does, but I can disconnect it." Dick assured her.

"Okay." She folded her arms.

Dick realized she meant now, so he got in and hurriedly disconnected the Internet. Batman would love that. He could see his frustration now. "All clear." Dick called out. Reyna picked up Charlie and got in, placing him on her lap. Charlie's eyes roved across the many buttons. Dick was suddenly reminded of his first ride in the Batmobile. "Don't touch anything." He heard him say the same words Batman had said to him.

"Do I want to ask what they all do?" Reyna looked at them questioningly as Dick started the car.

"Some blow up stuff, you never know." Dick smirked, as he revved the engine, put it in gear and peeled out.

"Slow down. You have a kid in here without a seat belt!" Reyna admonished.

Charlie laughed with glee. "Don't worry, I'm a good driver." Dick grinned.

Reyna scowled disapprovingly at Dick. He shifted uncomfortably and slowly took some pressure off the petal. He found his way through the familiar streets of Gotham. Reyna had gone silent again, staring unseeingly out the window. He wanted to talk to her, but didn't feel comfortable saying anything with Charlie there.

Charlie lived in an apartment complex. He parked the Batmobile down a dark alley, and they all got out. Charlie happily led the way to his apartment on the third floor. A woman with red rimmed eyes and dirty blond hair answered the door.

"Mom!" Charlie shouted happily as he ran into her arms.

The woman cried, "My baby! My baby!"as she held him tight.Then she looked at Dick in his Nightwing disguise. Her expression changed as sherecognized him. "You. You're with Batman." She said with a note of worry. "What . . . ?"

"Mrs. Dunham, may we come in and speak with you for a moment." Dick interrupted.

She held her son close to her and nodded as she stepped out of the way to let them by. Dick stepped into the modest apartment, followed by Reyna. He saw the mother eyeing Reyna's Roman armor. "What happened?" She asked worriedly.

"Let's start with your side of the story first." Dick gestured for her to start.

She offered them a seat as she held her son close to her. "It was just supposed to be a well-check. The next thing I know, they were rushing him to the hospital. They told me to meet them there. But when I got there, no one knew anything about it. Even the police didn't take me seriously. It was like my son never existed."

"They, who?" Dick asked calmly.

"Dr. Longfellow and Officer Page."

"I see. We found Charlie in a jail cell in an underground lab. Mrs. Dunham, do you know what a metahuman is?"

"You mean those people that have powers?"

"That's right. With each generation the meta gene is becoming more and more prominent. Not all develope powers, however."

"Are you saying that Charlie has, . . . is a meta?"

"He has the meta gene, but I don't think he has any powers."

"So they took him because of this gene?"

"That's unclear at the moment, but it is the only thing that stands out. I would suggest keeping a low profile for a while. If you are able to, maybe leave town. Definitely avoided doctors. You can be certain that I will be looking into this."

The mother held her son closer to her, and nodded her head.

"I'll check in on you once in awhile." Dick stood up.

"Thank you, Nightwing." She said gratefully. "And you, . . ." She looked at Reyna expectantly.

"Praetor." She supplied with a tight smile.

"Praetor. I dread to think what the world would be without heroes like you."

Dick felt his world tilt for just a moment as the implications of her words suddenly included an entire world of heroes she knew nothing about. Reyna smiled. "It would be a very dark world indeed."

Dick had a vision of the few monsters he had encountered, ruling ruthlessly over men, and the thought chilled him. "Be careful." Dick said as a final farewell.

Reyna was quiet as they got back into the Batmobile. Dick pulled out a slip of paper with an address on it.

"Where are we going?" Reyna demanded.

"To that kid's house. I thought that you would want to notify the parents of his death. They're not far from here." Dick looked at her curiously, as he turned on the vehicle and put it in gear.

He watched as she clenched her teeth and her eyes became distant. "Of course." Her tone was neutral, but she looked sick.

"How did it go?" Dick tried for conversation as he navigated the streets. Reyna raised a questioning eyebrow. "At Camp Half-Blood." He clarified.

"Fine." She looked away.

"So they buried him?" Dick asked.

Reyna looked down at her hands. "Yes. He was claimed during his burial."

"Really? Can I ask by who?"

"Potestas, or Kratos by his Greek name. God of strength and power."

"Is that good?"

Reyna sighed, giving the impression that she was tiring of this conversation. "It's good. Some kids never get claimed. It was a nice touch to the funeral."

"I see." Dick focused on driving for a bit, but he lack of conversation bothered him. "I went to a funeral recently." He blurted out. He hadn't meant to bring it up, but now that it was out, he just started talking. "He was my best friend. He wasn't even supposed to be there. He was retired, going to college, had a girlfriend. He was living the dream. And I just had to go and interfere."

"He was a hero?" She asked softly.

"He saved the world." Dick gripped the wheel in rememberace.

"Then he died a hero's death and will have a hero's reward. He will have peace in Elysium."

"Elysium, that's your heaven." Dick remembered from his Greek mythology class.

"Yes. Many half-bloods are there." She turned to look out the window again. "I too resently buried a good friend, a fellow Praetor. He too was going to school, had a girlfriend. He had saved the world so many times already. He shouldn't have had to sacrifice himself to save the world one more time. But I guess that's what real heroes do. They answer the call, no matter how it interferes with their life."

Dick felt a knot loosening in his chest. "Yeah, I guess you're right. The thing that bothers me the most is I keep thinking that if I had never got his girlfriend involved, or if maybe I had been there, I could have saved him."

"Maybe if I had trained them harder, prepared them better, they would still be alive." Reyna continued his train of thought.

Dick looked over to see her soft eyes looking back. A warmth spread throughout his chest. They both looked away and Dick felt a small smile form on his lips and a giddiness he hadn't felt since he nailed his first flip without his dad's help. "Sounds like you've been to a lot of funerals."

"One hundred and thirty-two since I became praetor." Reyna said with a sigh. Dick felt like he had missed a step. He looked over to see her looking back out the window. "I am so tired of going to funerals."

Dick pulled up to a small house in a run down suburb in Jersey. She looked at the house with dread across her features. "It'll be alright, I'm with you." Dick reassured her.

She gave him a small smile. She then sat up and a determined expression covered over the sadness that had been eminating. Before him was the feirce warrior he had become accustomed to seeing.


	17. Chapter 17

The next month flew. Richard and Reyna were busy most nights, but it felt more like putting out fires than addressing the source of the problem. They were becoming more comfortable with each other and had developed a rhythm when in battle. Reyna could tell he was a leader. She couldn't help but think that he would make an excellent praetor, if he were a half-blood. Richard was a hard worker, especially when it came to research. She was amazed at how much he could find, just on the computer. She found herself looking forward to their meetings.

It was late in the day when she heard from him asking for another meet. He took her to another unmarked building out in the middle of nowhere. But for some reason, Richard was more antzy than usual.

"What's going on?" She asked as they scoped out the building.

He didn't answer at first, but then said, "Somethings not right."

"What do you mean?" She questioned.

"I've been here before." She answered by way of explanation.

"So?"

"So, bad guys don't go back to places they've been caught."

"What do you want to do?"

"Nothing to do, but keep your head on the swivel."

Richard quickly took out the guards guarding the entrance. They entered the building cautiously. It was erily quiet. Every hair on the back of her neck and arms stood on end. They made their way down to the labs, encountering no one.

"I don't like this." Richard breathed.

"Do you feel that?" She kept looking around expecting to see a monster.

Richard didn't answer as he searched the lab. "Nothing. It's a trap!"

A deep laugh echoed across the empty building. "Not too bad. Not too good either."

"Show yourself!" Richard had a couple of baterangs out, ready to attack.

"You know, when I was hired to take care of a menacing threat, I expected a bit more than Batboy and his girlfriend." A large man dressed in red and black with the handles of two swords sticking up behind each shoulder stepped out.

"Slade." Nightwing breathed. If she didn't know better, she'd say he actually sounded afraid.

"You know him?" She asked.

"I prefer Deathstroke." Slade corrected.

"I know of him. He's mine." Nightwing's voice took on a hard edge. Reyna took it to mean that the man was mortal.

"Ahh, that's cute. For that, I won't even draw my swords." Deathstroke mocked him.

Nightwing didn't hesitate as he threw both baterangs at him, following quickly behind with several kicks. Deathstroke managed to successfully dodge the baterangs, but got kicked several times in the head and in the gut. Reyna thought for sure he would go down as Deathstroke swayed a little. But she was mistaken when Deathstroke, instead of falling over, did a flip where he used his momentum to grab and throw Nightwing across the room and painfully against a wall.

"And I thought that you would last longer." Deathstroke scoffed.

Reyna let out a roar and charged. She barely ducked a blow and landed a punch across his nose and one one his throat. He staggered back for a moment before he attacked back. He moved so quickly, she could barely keep up. He almost had her when Nightwing attacked from behind. He was grunting with every move. Together they attacked full force. Reyna would deliver a blow and get out of the way for Nightwing to get in some hits, then she would get a turn.

They did this for a while, until it seemed that Deathstroke had had enough. He roared in frustration, reached behind him, and pulled out two long samurai swords. Nightwing looked grim. Reyna drew her own sword in response.

Nightwing shook his head slightly toward her. She merely rolled her shoulders in response.

Deathstroke was deadly with his swords as he took on both of them. Nightwing was mainly dodging and leaping out of the way. He was a good distraction, Reyna wasn't sure she could hold her own with him. A sword sliced her exposed arm. She hissed in pain and drew back. Nightwing attacked, but was hit with the back of the sword and kicked across the room. He landed roughly. His body lay motionless. Reyna fought the panic rising.

Deathstroke seemed to be interested in something else for the moment. He was studying his sword and then he suddenly removed his mask that had covered his entire face and licked the blade. Reyna cringed. "You're different." He smiled pleasantly as he pointed his swords at her. Reyna didn't dare have a conversation with this man, so she just kept her sword trained on him. "There's something about you . . ." He muttered as he walked toward her.

Reyna attacked, hoping he was preoccupied with something else. She was wrong. In one swift move he deflected her sword with one of his swords and ran her through with the other.

"No." She heard Nightwing mutter.

She looked down at the strange sight, then back up to the man's face. To her horror she recognized it. It haunted her dreams. She gathered what depleting strength she had and twisted her sword enough to come down across his wrist and cut off his hand. He roared in pain and began pulling away, his sword ripping her body apart as he did, but she forced herself to focus and with the last of her strength she sliced off his head. The rest of the sword came out of her body as Deathstroke fell limply to the ground.

Reyna followed soon after. She stared upon the severed head, whose eyes began to swallow her up in unwanted memories. Someone blocked her vision, and she heard a familiar voice calling out her name. She tried to focus on his face, to stay in the now, but she felt herself unwillingly pulled into her worst nightmare.


	18. Chapter 18

Dick's head hurt. His back hurt. It hurt to breath. But none of that mattered when he came to in time to watch Deathstroke slide his sword into Reyna's flesh.

"Noooo!" He tried to yell to get Deathstroke's attention, but it came out much weaker than he expected.

Then, to his horror, he watched as Reyna quickly cut off Deathstroke hand and then continued to behead him. Deathstroke's body crumpled to the ground, and so did Reyna. Dick managed to pull himself up and make his way over to her. Her eyes were unfocused and her skin was much paler than it should be. She was fading fast.

"Reyna, look at me! Look at me!" He called out to her. Her eyes focused on him for just a moment before they closed completely. Blood trickled from the side of her mouth.

Dick fought the panic that was rising. Instinct took over as he began unbuckling her armor. Once her armor was off, he pressed her purple cape against her wound. He felt for her pulse, and was relieved to discover that she still had one, even if it was weak. Then he remembered the medicine that was stashed in her satchel. He quickly opened it up to find the water bottle. He opened it and poured a little of the golden liquid over her wound. He didn't see any change to the wound or to her. He rolled her over and poured some more nectar over the back of the wound. He pulled out the Ziploc bag full of golden squares that looked like lemon bars. He remembered how he wasn't supposed to touch it, and carefully opened her mouth and placed a square in her mouth, keeping his hand on the plastic. Nothing happened at first, but he was relieved to see her starting to move her mouth a little bit as she chewed and swallowed it. He still couldn't see any changes. He worried about moving her, but knew she couldn't stay here.

He secured her wound to the best of his ability with her purple cape, strapped her armor to his back, and using the computer on his arm, called for the plane to park closer. He carefully picked her up, which hurt a lot more than it normally would have. He guessed that he definitely had some cracked ribs if not broken. He pushed past the pain as he lifted her limp body in his arms and began the long trek out of the building.

Twenty minutes later, with several periods of resting, he was able to get her secure in a bunk on the plane. He hooked her up to an IV, and checked the wound again. The bleeding had stopped, which Dick took as a good sign. He finally sat at the pilot's seat. "Emergency protocol's," He breathed. "Back to San Francisco base."

"Emergency protocol's." A femine voice spoke calmly. The back hatch closed, the engine started, and the plane rose in the air and took off at an accelerated rate.

Dick tried to even out his breathing so it wouldn't hurt as much, but his thoughts wouldn't let him. Something was off about the whole encounter. It wasn't just that Deathstroke was there, instead of monsters, or that they had gotten out barely with their lives. What bothered him was the fact that Reyna had actually killed a mortal. She had expressed such finality that they didn't kill mortals. It was one thing that he trusted when it came to their missions. He handled the mortals and she took care of the monsters. He found himself questioning Reyna. Something he hadn't even thought about for some time. He had come to trust her explicitly. Something he had only been able to do with a handful of people in his life. Then there was the fact that he had failed to protect her. He hadn't seen her this close to death since she fought the giant. The thought scared him more than anything, which didn't help him control his breathing.

"Nightwing! Come in!" The intercom to the plane startled him. It was Batman's voice. Dick groaned He had forgotten that when you activate emergency protocols, the Justice League is notified. Dick wanted to ignore it, but knew he couldn't.

"Nightwing here." He tried to sound strong, even though it hurt to breath.

"Nightwing, what's going on?" It was hard to tell if that was worry or anger in Batman's voice.

"Just got my ass handed to me by Deathstroke, no biggy. I'm fine." He tried to sound confident.

"Deathstroke?! Where?"

"An old Cadamus lab in Arizona."

"What were you doing there?"

"Just following a lead."

"Into an old Cadmus lab? Sounds like a trap."

"It was. I'm pissing someone off."

"This about those kidnappings?"

Dick glanced back at Reyna as he said, "Yeah."

"I've got some information about that. the van's Vin number gets scratched and changed every time they're used. But I found out who's supplying them. Now we just need to follow the trail to who they're supplying them to."

"What are you thinking? A night raid?" Nightwing shifted trying to get comfortable.

"No need. The CEO is going to be at a charity ball next week. All we have to do is bug their phone. Any other electronics they come in contact with, we'll have access to."

"Sounds like you've got it covered."

"Not quite. She likes younger men."

The implication hit Dick like a ton of bricks. As if he wasn't having a hard enough time breathing. "No."

"What?"

"I can't."

"I thought it was your favorite part?"

"Not . . .". He started to say not anymore but stopped. Since when did he not like keeping another woman's attention. It usually lead to other things. He was so confused, and his aching head didn't help matters "I'll think about it." He finally relented.

"We can't stop the kidnappings, if we don't know who is behind them. Regardless,this is getting serious. You need to bring us in on this. I'm turning your ship around. I'll see you in Gotham."

"NO!" Panic seized him as he looked back at Reyna's still form. He could just see Batman's reaction to seeibg Reyna, complete with his detective skills going into overtime. Batman had his hands full enough with all the villains of Gotham, he didn't want Batman exposed to a world of literal monsters. "I, I, I just need a little bit more time."

"Nightwing." Batman's voice was deep and commanding, but was that also concern?

"Just not now."

"We are stronger together."

"I know." Nightwing stared at Reyna as he spoke.

"I want to see you." He said with emphasis.

Dick sighed, "Okay. Give me a week."

"One week." Batman agreed, but he was clearly not happy about it. The comms went dead and Dick knew he had just dodged a bullet. How much longer he could keep avoiding Batman was in question.

The plane landed a bit rougher than he liked. He forced his aching body up and checked Reyna's vitals. "They were getting stronger, which was promising, but she was still weak. Luckily the bunk converted into a stretcher. He rolled her out of the plane and over to a table they had been using for research. He unwrapped her purple cape from around her waist, revealing the wound. The bleeding had stopped, but it was still gaping open. He pulled out her water bottle again and poured a little more of the golden liquid into the wound. He cut off her purple shirt, fully exposing the wound. He cleaned up the blood from her body as best he could and placed clean gauze on the front and back of her wound and wrapped a clean cloth around it. Satisfied with his work, he moved her to the only bed in the place.

He took some pain pills and wrapped his own ribs, which hurt more than when Alfred or Bruce did it. He lay on the bed next to Reyna's still form. It wasn't exactly comfortable, but he hoped the pain medicine kicked in soon.He stared at her for a moment.She looked so fragile, which was so different from the feirce warrior he was used to seeing. Why had she killed? It seemed she still held some mystery. Just when he thought he had her figured out, a whole different puzzle would come to light, leaving him restless until he had it solved.

He made sure that she was covered and checked that the IV was still going. He was no surgeon, and he was uncertain of what else he could do to help her. For the first time in his life, he prayed to the gods as he fell into a restless sleep.


	19. Chapter 19

Reyna screamed and cried as she ran. At every turned she saw his face, leering, scowling, and threatening her. She desperately tried to put as much distance between her and her attacker, but he was everywhere. A hand grabbed her wrist. She turned to see a face painted black on one side and red on the other. She struggled to break free from the grip.

"Reyna!" The face yelled.

She struggled harder.

"Reyna, stop! You're hurting yourself!" The face spoke the words, but the voice was different.

With a start she realized, it was Richard"s voice. "Richard." She whispered.

"Wake up!"

Reyna woke up with a start. Richard had a hand on each wrist. It took Reyna a moment to realize where she was and what had happened. Richard's eyes were wide with fear and concern. Then she noticed that he was only in pair of shorts and his chest was taped up. She looked away, embarrassed.

"You're safe." Richard soothed.

She felt shame and embarrassment wash over her and she jerked away. Pain shot through her side from the movement, causing her to hiss.

"Careful." He warned.

Reyna replayed what events she could remember over in her head, then she asked, "Where am I?"

"We're back at base, just in the private area." Richard said as he winced.

"How long have I been out?" Reyna felt like she was still waking up from her nightmare as she kept feeling like the man with the red and black mask was going to jump out and attack her at any time.

"Couple days." Richard said calmly, but there was nothing calm about it.

Reyna moved to get up, when she realized she was only in her underwear. She quickly grab the sheets and pulled them up to her chin. "You're making a bad habit of this."

"You're making a bad habit of getting seriously injured." Richard shot back.

"Where's my clothes?"

"Your armor is over there," he pointed over to the corner were her armor was stacked neatly, "your pants are in the wash, but I had to cut off your shirt." At Reyna's appalled look, he hastily added, "But you can borrow one of mine."

As she got up she grabbed the top sheet and pulled it off the bed and wrapped it around her.

"I'm no health professional, but are you sure you should be up." Richard looked at her with concern.

She looked at her side and saw that it was not in the best condition, but she wasn't going to suffer any more humility at his hands. "I'll manage."

Richard stayed quiet for a while as shesituated herself, when he suddenly asked, "What were you dreaming about?"

The question caught her off guard. "That's none of your business." She snapped with more emotion than she intended to.

"Deathstroke was my business, but that didn't stop you from interfering." Richard challenged.

Reyna whirled around to stare at him disbelievingly. "You're right. He was your business, until he wasn't anymore."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that he wasn't a mortal anymore." Rena struggle to control her emotions at the thought of the memory. She moved closer to a nearby window hoping that it would be cooler since she suddenly felt strangely hot.

Richard seemed stunned by the comment. "That's impossible, a mortal can't become . . . You're not saying that he became . . ."

"A monster." She finished his sentence.

"That's impossible. I have proof that he's mortal. The date and place of his birth, where he grew up, . . . everything. He can't be.

"Tell that to the Minotaur, to Medusa, to countless other monsters that were once mortal."

"How can you be certain? There's no way! How? How?"

Reyna grabbed her head, desperately trying to keep the memories from surfacing and overtaking her again, while Richard kept challenging her, questioning her. "Because I've seen it before!" She yelled.

Richard looked at her completely stunned. She knew he would not leave her alone until he I got all the answers he could out of her. She took a steadying breath and carefully made her way back to the bed and sat down.

"Bellona has always been my family's patron goddess. She has looked after us for generations, centuries. It wasn't until my father came along she actually took more an interest then being a patron goddess. My sister and I were soon born. My father was a good man. He loved us. We loved him. When the war broke out in Iraq, he signed up like our ancestors before. He served three tours, and with each tour he grew more and more distant. After the last tour, he came home unrecognizable. He had taken to drinking heavily, and began cursing the gods, cursing my mother, and cursing us." Tears flowed freely as she spoke. "One night he came home really drunk, but the man I saw was not my father. He attacked us, craving Olympian blood. He had become a monster."

Richard moved to sit on the bed next to her. "Ikilled him. I didn't mean to. I didn't know." She didn't dare look at him as she tried to recover. Her sister had always told her, she couldn't cry in front of a man because it would make her look weak.

"How old were you?" He asked.

"Young. I don't remember."

Richard sighed, "I was twelve when I watched my parents die. I thought I had it bad. I sometimes see the same scene playing out in my dreams at night. I always think I can reach out fast enough to save them."

"I dream that I'm able to somehow reach my father and save him, but I always fail."

"Does, does it happen often. You know, mortals turning immortal?"

"My sister and I are the only ones, I believe, to have ever seen it. Guess I'm just lucky to have seen it twice. Or cursed."

"You're not cursed. Not sure anyone else would have been able to recognize it."

"A little late." Reyna looked down at her wound. "I'm sorry about your parents. Seems to be common occurrence that a hero be born to tragedy, live a life of tragedy, and die of tragedy. No wonder whenever hero finds a moment of peace and happiness they clinge to it."

Reyna looked up at Richard, and her breath caught in her throat. She hadn't realized how close they were together. His eyes bore into hers. She could feel the heat coming off his body. For the first time in a long time, she felt a burden lifted from her shoulders. He leaned down, and their lips touched gently. Her mind grew fuzzy, and her body melted into his. She felt his arms wrap around her, pulling her close. She ran her hands through his hair, pulling him toward her, intensifying the kiss. She hadn't realized how badly she needed this. How much she wanted him. His arms tightened around her, and a pain shot through her body.

She broke the kiss and pushed Richard away from her. He groaned in pain. She realized that she had pushed his ribs. They looked at each other as they tried to catch their breath.

"I'm sorry." Richard panted.

Rena to try to catch her breath as she looked at Richard with newfound eyes. "I'm not."

Richard smiled, and Reyna's heart raced. He leaned in to kiss her again. Reyna wanted nothing more than to receive it, yet she felt something was missing. "Wait." She watched Richard hesitate. "There's something I need to tell you first." He gave her a questioning look that made her smile at and said, "My name is Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano."

Richard smiled and chuckled. "What are you? Royalty?"

"It's said that my ancestors once were of the upper class in Rome, before they settled to Puerto Rico."

"Wel, it's a pleasure to meet you Reyna Ava I can't remember the rest of your name." Richard leaned in again.

Reyna laughed. A full hearty laugh. She couldn't remember when she had ever laughed like that. Pain shot through her body once more. "Don't make me laugh." She groaned as she smiled.

"Me either." Richard agreed as he rubbed his sore ribs. "How about we take it a little slower." He suggested.

"Sounds perfect.' Reyna agreed.


	20. Chapter 20

Dick lay next to Reyna. Her eyes were closed, and her breathing was steady. He caressed her hand, up her arm, over her shoulder, and caressed her cheek. A small smile crept across her lips. He couldn't help but smile back at her. He loved that he was able to touch her in such an intimate way now. She took his breath away and breathed life into him at the same time. He had never felt this way before. He felt giddy.

"Do you have to go back?" He asked.

She opened her eyes, and Dick couldn't help but get lostin her dark brown orbs. "I have responsibilities. I am still Praeter of the Twelth Legion of New Rome. Besides, I have to report to the Senate. We've rescued so many kids, but I can't help but think there's still so many we've missed. And now they're setting traps for us. We're going to have to be extra careful before going on rescue missions."

"Actually, I think Batman has found a way around that. He's found out who's distributing the vans. He wants me to help him bug the CEO's phone, and find out where they're sending the vans. Maybe even find out who is behind it all."

Reyna paused for a moment then asked, "Does Batman know about us?"

Dick's heart almost stopped at the thought of Batman walking in on him with Reyna. Then he realized she meant if he knew about demigods. "He knows about the kidnappings." He admitted.

"What is your relationship between you and Batman?" She asked curiously.

"After my parents were killed, he took me in. Adopted me." Dick shrugged his shoulders.

"So he's your father?"

Dick gave a scoffed chuckle. "More like mentor. He was more interested in training me, than anything else. I always got the feeling, that he wanted me to take his place one day."

"And you don't want to." She guessed. It was scary to him how easily he confided in her, but it felt so natural at the same time.

"No. I don't know. I don't think I can distance myself like he can."

"And you shouldn't. You shouldn't do anything that isn't a hundred percent you. I am impressed that even after all this time, you still choose to be a hero. There must be a small part of you that likes doing it, just in your own way. Still, he's family. You should tell him." She placed a hand gently on his chest, making his heart quicken it's pace.

"It's complicated."he tried to focus.

"Not really. We just make things complicated. You can tell him when we bug the CEO."

"We?" Dick didn't know how he felt about Reyna coming with him on a honey-bait. "You want to go to a charity ball with me?"

"Charity Ball?" she looked doubtful.

"Much like the one we met at." Dick thought back to their first meeting and remembered how stunning she looked in that red dress. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all.

"You mean I would have to wear a dress and high heels?" Reyna looked appalled.

Dick smiled mischievously. "You looked stunning."

"I can't fight in a dress." Reyna argued. "And I'm not interested in another groping session."

"You'd be with me. I'll protect you."

They stared at each other for a moment. Her cheeks flushed, and her eyes looked down. "I'll think about it. When is it?"

"Friday evening in Gotham's Epic center at seven."

"I don't think I have a dress among all my armor." She said riley.

"Where did you get the last dress?" Dick looked at her curiously. It was true that whenever he saw her, she was either in her armor or jeans and a t-shirt.

"Don't make me talk about it. It's too traumatic."

"Now I am curious. What quest did you have to go on to obtain a dress that fit you perfectly?"

"The quest was to find a hero." She looked at him pointedly. Dick grinned wider. "The worst part of the quest, besides getting groped, was enduring a daughter of Venus dressing me up."

Dick laughed. He laughed so hard that it ended in a groan because it hurt his ribs so much.

"Serves you right. It wasn't funny. She made me late." Reyna pouted.

"So she was the reason we met?" Dick grinned at her.

Reyna blushed and smiled back. "Iguess so."

Dick couldn't help himself as he leaned in and kissed her gently. Her hand caressed his arm, leaving a tingling sensation as she made her way up to the back of his neck. She pulled him in closer to her, deepening the kiss. When the kiss finished, Dick said, "I'm glad she did. Seriously, I'd really love it if you came. It would make the party much more tolerable to bare."

"I'll think about it. I really should get going."

"But you're still healing." He kissed her cheek. "And there's monsters out there." He moved down to her neck. "Don't you think you should be fully healed before you head out?" He kissed her collar bone.

Her breath quickened with each kiss. "Okay." She breathed. "You win. But then I have to go."

"Whatever you say." Dick smiled into her neck.


	21. Chapter 21

Reyna couldn't stop smiling. She had spent another night before finally returning to Camp Jupiter. And no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't quite stop smiling to the point where her cheeks hurt. She couldn't remember a time when she felt so happy. She was walking toward her quarters when Frank spotted her.

"You're alive. It's good to see you."

"Sorry, I didn't come in sooner. I had to wait until I was healed." She fought the blush creeping up her cheeks at the thought of her time healing with Richard.

"What happened?" Frank asked with concern. Frank may look like a football player, but he was teddy bear in reality. Which was ironic since he was a son of Mars, the god of war.

"It was a trap." Reyna stated simply. Frank's eyebrows rose in surprise. "We'll talk about it after I get changed. Give me twenty minutes."

Frank nodded in understanding. "I'll let Percy and Annabeth know."

"Percy's here?" She said surprised.

"There have been some power plays against you. I hope you don't mind. I called Percy to help out, while you were on your quest "

Percy had earned the right to be Praetor some years ago, but had willingly stepped down to make room for Jason and then Frank. It was a completely unroman thing to do, which she supposed was only natural since he was Greek. She had been Praetor for such a long time that there were a lot of people looking for any window to take the job. Her death would be very convenient. Percy was no threat to her since she knew he never even wanted power. He was only considered the leader of the Greek half-bloods unofficially.

And if Percy was here, it was no surprise that Annabeth was here. Ever since their trip to Tatarus, they became inseparable. Wherever Percy was, Annabeth was, and vice versa.

"You did the right thing." Reyna reassured Frank. "I'll see you in a bit."

Frank nodded and headed back as Reyna continued toward her bunk. She took off her armor and changed her shirt into a new purple SPQR shirt. Once she was changed she picked up the white T-shirt that Richard had let her use and held it to her. She inhaled his lingering scent, and the night came rushing back to her. A smile broke out on her face again, and that familiar flip flop in her heart started up again. She folded the shirt neatly, put it under her pillow, and headed out.

Frank, Percy, and Annabeth were all waiting in the Praetor's office. Frank sat in his Praetor chair. Percy sat across from him idlely twirling his pen, that she knew was actually his sword in disguise. Annabeth sat next to him, looking every inch a California girl. But Reyna knew what a deadly and intelligent woman she was.

"You really had us worried." Percy smirked as she made her way to sit down.

"Apparently I'm a little harder to kill." Reyna gave a grin smile.

"So what happened?"

"There were no kids in the lab when we arrived, but someone else was: a mercenary."

"A mortal?"

"Sort of. You know that line, beware the immortal mortal? I think it was talking about this mercenary."

"Wait, what are you saying?" Percy looked confused, as usual.

"I'm saying, he was so far gone he became a monster." Reyna sighed.

The room was quiet for a moment as they let that sink in. "So, what are we going to do? They're setting traps with immortal mortals. We should visit the auguries, or at least meet with the Senate." Frank looked worried.

"Actually, Batman may have found a trail to who's behind all of this. We just have to bug someone's phone at a charity ball and wait for their call."

"We?" Annabeth raised an eyebrow.

"Nightwing and I." Reyna clarified.

"Wait! You're going to a charity ball? Don't you have to dress up for those sort of things?" Percy looked surprised.

"Yes." Reyna fought the blush rushing up her cheeks.

"It just doesn't seem like you." Frank said stupidly.

"It is to stop them from kidnapping anymore kids, Greek and Roman." Reyna snapped, but her cheeks still felt hot.

"Do you think it safe to be near such, technology?" Annabeth's eyebrows were knitted together with concern.

"I'll be fine." Reyna said coolly. Leave it to Annabeth to find the one fault to her argument. But she couldn't tell her that Nightwing would be doing most of the technology stuff, lest they talk her out of it. Truth was she wanted to have this evening with him, to dress up for him.

"Okay, but you have another issue." Frank looked uncomfortable.

"Oh?" Reyna raised an eyebrow.

"Your sister has been calling daily for reports on your return. She's getting rather . . . aggressive."

Reyna sighed. "I'll call her. How have the troops been doing?"

"They're antzy. Everyone can feel a looming threat, but no one knows how to fight it."

"Well, between the three of us, I think we can keep things calm." Reyna said confidently. "If there is nothing else, I had better address my sister."

"Good idea." Frank grumbled as he got up.

Reyna followed the others out of the office. Frank and Percy headed to the arena, while Reyna headed to New Rome. "Reyna, I'll walk with you."Annabeth called out.

Reyna turned to see Annabeth give Percy a quick kiss and then run up to her side. She gave Reyna a friendly smile as the both turned toward New Rome. They walked in silence for some time before Annabeth said, "How has Hylla been, besides upset about her only sister going dark?"

"Fine, I guess." Reyna answered vaguely.

"You should probably try to level down the smile before you call, though."

"Wh . . .what?" Reyna stumbled to a stop.

Annabeth let out a small giggle, which Reyna had never heard her do, ever. "Boys are clueless, but to those who have been there, well, you're practically glowing."

"I am?" Reyna pressed her hands up to her cheeks.

"Can't stop smiling, dressing up nice for someone, and late reporting in. I'd say, he kissed you?"

Reyna blushed furiously, and opened and closed her mouth a few times trying to figure out what to say. She should have known better than to expect to get anything by Annabeth.

"Oh my gods, he kissed you!" Annabeth said a little bit louder as Reyna had just confirmed her suspicions.

"Shh, shh." Reyna looked around nervously.

"I remember when Percy first kissed me." Annabeth smiled as she looked dreamily in the distance. Then she snapped back to reality. "What are you going to tell your sister?"

Hylla had never really fully recovered from Circe's island. During their captivity, Hylla had taken it upon her to protect Reyna as much as possible, resulting in her being handled very roughly and brought back in tears. When they finally escaped, they were given the option to either join the Amazons or Camp Jupiter. Reyna shouldn't have been surprised that Hylla chose to go with the Amazons. She could never look at men in the same light after what she had experienced. But the subject of boys had never really entered their conversation in the past. In fact, they were both so busy with their respective leadership roles, they hardly ever talked. "I don't know. This is all so new. I'm not sure where this is headed."

Annabeth nodded in understanding. "Well, good luck." Annabeth said as they approached the border.

Terminus, the god of borders, seemed to be in a pleasant mood, and took their weapons without too much nit picking. Annabeth left Reyna at the building that held the sole phone in New Rome. Reyna shooed everyone out of the room before she started her call. She would need privacy.

The phone only rang once before it was picked up. "Do you have news?"

"Hello, Hylla." Reyna answered.

"Reyna! Are you alright? What happened?"

"I'm fine. I got stabbed in the midsection, but I was able to heal quickly, thanks to some quick thinking of my partner."

"A mortal boy saved you?" There was a note of disbelief in her voice.

"We saved each other." Reyna corrected.

"I still don't understand why you have to work with a mortal, did it have to be a boy?"

"He's a good guy and he works hard to save others. He's a true hero." Reyna defensively.

"Those wannabes don't even come close to a hero's life." Hylla snapped.

"How would you know, if you never met one?" Reyna countered.

"Since when have you changed your tune about them?"

"Since working with one. Nightwing and I have been able to save over fifty kids, mostly due to his efforts."

"Kids taken by mortal's hands."

"And monsters. Don't you see? They're working together, so we need to work together."

There was silence on the other end for some time until she finally breathed, "I suppose it is necessary to have to put up with him, for now. Just don't get attached. I know you still have delusions that romance still exist."

"It's not a delusion." Reyna said defensively.

"I just don't want you to get hurt."

"I don't need your protection anymore, Hylla." Reyna said irritably.

"We always need to look out for each other. Men are selfish, and will always put themselves first."

"Nightwing is different."

"We'll see. Be careful, don't get too close, and watch your back."

"I'm always careful." Reyna sighed. She deliberately refused to address the other promise. Hyllahung up the phone, signaling the end of the call.

Reyna hung up her end and sat back. She was already too close to Richard. She couldn't deny the way he made her feel, not anymore. She couldn't imagine him betraying her, but still the thought nagged at her. She shook it off. She had other things to worry about. Her job was under attack and she needed to get a dress.


	22. Chapter 22

When Alfred picked Dick up from the airport, Dick greeted him jovially, "Good afternoon, Alfred."

Alfred raised eyebrow at the greeting. Apparently he wasn't expecting Dick to be in such a good mood. "Good afternoon, Master Dick." He held open the back door to the vintage Rolls-Royce for him. "Did you have a good flight?"

"It was the perfect day for flying. Just beautiful." Dick said as he got in.

Alfred shut the door and got in at the wheel. He glanced at the rear view mirror at Dick to find him smiling softly out the window. "Seems San Francisco has done you some good, Master Dick."

Dick smiled at Alfred, "You have no idea."

Alfred put the car into gear and pulled out. "Bruce is in a mood." Alfred warned.

"When isn't he?" Dick laughed.

"How goes your studies?"

"Good." Dick couldn't stop the smile on his face. "I'm learning lots. I guess you could say, I'm fully immersing myself." Dick's smile became a full grin at his inside joke.

The rest of the trip was quiet with Alfred glancing at Dick through the rearview mirror. Each time Dick would smile back. He was in such a good mood, he didn't think anything could bring him down. He was wrong.

Bruce was nowhere in the manor, which wasn't surprising. Bruce rarely spent time in the manor. Who was in the manor was Tim. As soon as Dick saw him, he gave Dick a strange look and asked, "What are you smiling about? He's really mad at you."

"Good to see you too." Dick ruffled his hair as he walked by.

Tim quickly pulled out of the way. "Ugh. You are so going to get it."

Dick gave a dark chuckle. "What's new."

Sure enough, he found him beneath the manor in the batcave in front of the computer. Bruce gave no aknowledgement that he recognized that Dick was there, but Dick didn't believe for a second that he didn't know it.

"How's the ribs?" Bruce finally asked.

"Manageable." Dick shrugged.

"Are you going to tell me what happened?" Bruce asked.

"Not much to say. It was a trap. Deathstroke was there and gave me a good beating. But w . . . I came out on top."

"And just your ribs were injured?"

"Yeah."

"Then who used the IV?" Bruce's eyes narrowed.

Dick saw this coming, and he knew Reyna had counciled him to tell Batman everything, but he also knew the life he led and how dangerous it already was. At least that was his excuse. "My partner."

Bruce's eyes narrowed.

"She alerted me to the kidnappings in the first place."

"She?" Bruce rolled the word around like it were a piece of a puzzle. "Who is she?"

"I'm not ready for you to know that just yet."

Bruce stood up straighter to show his full hieght, an intimidation tactic that worked a lot with criminals, but Dick wasn't about to back down. "Dick, this is getting serious."

"You've no idea." Dick muttered under his breath.

"Without a proper background check, she could be taking advantage of you."

Dick couldn't help but smirk at the comment as thoughts of Reyna taking advantage of him ran through his mind. "I did a background check."

"A thoroughal background check?" Bruce questioned.

"What you don't think I can do a thoroughal background check?"

"That's not what I said."

"No what you said is that you don't trust me."

"I trust you. I just don't trust her."

"If you trust me, then you'll trust her."

Bruce's eyes narrowed, like he was looking for something on Dick that was hard to find.

Alfred cleared his throat deliberately. "The ball starts in a couple hours, so how about we go upstairs and have some dinner."

Dick turned and started heading up. He thought about telling him that she was going to try to be at the ball, but changed his mind. Heknew Bruce was still studying him as he left, but he didn't care.

Bruce and Dick didn't talk much, but that didn't mean that dinner was quiet. Tim filled the silence with nervous chatter that wasn't really directed at anyone. After dinner, Dick got changed into his custom tuxedo. His thoughts strayed to Reyna in her form fitting red dress, and he combed his hair with a little bit more attentiveness and put on some cologne. Once he was satisfied, he headed out. Bruce was waiting patiently. Tim sat in a chair nearby, observing their departure. Bruce held out a phone to him. It has to have a clear connection for at least a minute, two preferably."

Dick's stomach dropped like he'd just fallen off a building. He took the phone. Normally, he would have looked forward to the honey-bait, but tonight it just made him sick. Then he thought of Reyna. Maybe they could figure out a way to do it together. He pocketed the phone, ruffled Tim's hair, eliciting a, "You smell funny." and followed Bruce out to the car. Alfred held the door open for them and shut it behind them. They didn't talk the whole ride. When they arrived at the Charity Ball, the familiar circus greeted them. Flashing camera lights blinded them as they made their way into the ball.

"Bruce Wayne and Richard Grayson." A man next to the door announced.

That was new, Dick thought. He immediately began scanning the room as they walked in.

"She's over there in the black dress." Bruce murmured to him.

Dick's eyes snapped to where Bruce was looking, but any excitement he felt immediately dissipated. Standing at the bar stood a woman who looked to be in her fourtys with her auburn hair done up elegantly and wearing a short black dress with an extremely low cut down the front. Dick got that sick feeling again.

"Go get her." Bruce ordered.

Dick looked around the room. "Uh, it's too early in the evening. Don't want to come off over eager. She'll think something's up."

"Bruce Wayne!" A man Dick recognized as Mayor Wilson called out.

"Mayor." Bruce shook his hand.

Dick took the opportunity to slip away to the bar. He had a good view of the room. He saw Bruce occupied in one corner of the room with a bunch of men. He saw his target on the other side of the room, looking bored and surveying the room. He could see all the entrances oh, so he could see Reyna the moment she walked in. "Can I get you something to drink, sir?" The bartender asked.

Dick pondered the question and realized he hadn't had an alcoholic drink since the evening he met Reyna, nor did he want one. "Water will be fine."

The bartender gave him a strange look, but give him what he wanted. The evening droned on. Dick kept on checking his watch. Reyna was fifteen minutes late, half an hour late, an hour late. With each passing second, Dick's hopes decreased.

"Now what's a good looking kid like you doing all alone?" A sultry voice said next to him. Dick had been watching the entrance so much he lost track of the target, who was now sidling up next to him.

Dick instinctly eaned away. "I, uh, I was waiting for someone, but it looks like she can't make it."

"Now, who would miss the chance to meet with you?" She ran a fingernail up his arm, sending sickening chills through him.

Dick noticed Bruce further down the bar, who glanced purposefully at the bar and then back at Dick. Dick looked down and saw her phone laying on the bar. He did a mental shake and shoved Reyna from his thoughts. Time to go to work. Dick put on his most charming smile, as he pulled out his own phone. "No one that matters now." He placed the phone next to hers and activated it. "What are you having?"

"Martini on the rocks, or maybe I'll just have what your having." She glanced at the glass of water in front of him.

He chuckled at the inside joke. "Two martini's, please." He said to the bartender as he pushed the glass of water to the side.

The bartender got them their drinks. She picked up her drink and held up. "To being unattached."

Dick swallowed thickly. "To being unattached." He smiled.

He drank it in one gulp. As soon as he put his drink down, her lips were on his. Dick was completely taken aback by it. He felt her lips move against his, making him feel sick.

"Reyna Ramirez." The announcer suddenly shouted out.

Dick immediately pulled away and turned to see Reyna standing at the entrance in a royal purple dress that reminded him strongly of her praetor cape. Her hair looked like it had once been elaborately done up, but now had strands falling down around her shoulders, giving her a windblown look. She looked incredible. However, the whole look was marred by her face, which gave a look of horror.

"Reyna." Dick breathed.

"Oops." The woman said not sounding sorry at all.

Reyna immediately turned and walked out. Dickgrabbed the phone and ran to follow her. He was about to leave out the front entrance when he saw her purple dress disappear through a door. She had gone into the stairwell. He followed, desperately trying to catch up.

"Reyna!" Dick called out.

He could hear movement going up the stairs. "Reyna! Please let me talk to you."

He came around a flight of stairs and saw her struggling to get a shoe off at the top of the stairs. "Please, I can explain."

"Really? You can explain your lips on another woman. I thought . . . I don't know what I thought, but that wasn't it." She screamed the last part as she threw the shoe in her hand at him. It would have hit him in the head if he hadn't dodged it. When he turned to see where it had gone, he saw her high heel embedded into the wall. When he turned back to look at her, she was already running up the stairs.

He continued his chase up the stairs. Before long he caught up to her again on the roof. She had nowhere to go. Her back was to him and he watched her hands wipe at her face.

"It's not what it looks like. That was the CEO. I was bugging her phone."

"It looks like you are doing a lot more than that." Reyna turned and snapped at him. "Did you get a lot of information out of me? Gods, I'm so stupid. I've given you everything. You could wipe us all out."

"I would never."

Reyna walked determinedly to the edge of the roof. "Do you have any idea what it took just to get here? Three monster attacks, and me trying to fight in a stupid dress. All for what? To walk into . . ., to see . . ?

Fear flooded Dick. "Reyna, please, please don't."

"I trusted you." Her voice cracked.

"It was just a stupid sting. You mean so much more to me."

"You have a funny way of showing it." With that parting shot, she jumped off the roof.

Dick's screamed and ran to the edge. He looked over the side of the building to see nothing. He looked around and just saw a faint glimmer and something flying away.

Dick was crushed. He felt sick to stomach, and his chest hurt. He walked slowly back down the stairs. When he reach the bottom, he found Bruce waiting.

"Where have you been? Was that your partner?"

Dick pulled out the phone and slammed it against Bruces chest a little bit rougher than needed. "You got what you wanted. I don't know when I'll be back."

"Where are you going?"

"I don't know. Away from you."

Bruce gave him a confused look has Dick walked away. He had to fix this, somehow.


	23. Chapter 23

Reyna urged Guido to fly at her top speed. She prayed that no monsters would attack, because she could barely see through her tears. She kept seeing Richard's lips on that strange woman's, then her chest would hurt a little bit more. She felt as if she wouldn't be able to breath at all soon, as she gasped for air between sobs. She had to pull herself together. She was a warrior, a fighter. She couldn't let something like this get to her. But she had wanted it so badly. She wanted him. She could hear Hylla's voice in her head scolding her, "I told you. Men are selfish and will always hurt you." Was she right?

Reyna shook her head trying to clear her thoughts. But no matter how hard she tried she couldn't get the image out of her mind. She couldn't work with him, now. Not anymore. She didn't think she could even look at him again. She never wanted him to hurt her again.

Thankfully, she reached New Rome with no attacks. She was able to get to her bunk without encountering anyone, thanks to the late hour. She located the folded white T-shirt under her pillow and threw it across the room. She then promptly curled up on her bed and cried herself to sleep.

By morning, she was determined to push him out of her mind. She dressed in her armor and was ready to face troops.

"Attention!" Hazel yelled as Reyna walked in front of the troops.

"Mortals are threatening our lives. You will need to train harder than ever, to face this threat. Pair up." The soldiers faced off in pairs, their swords at the ready. "Begin!" Reyna ordered.

It was a familiar scene, the young soldiers fought with each other trying to hone their newfound sword skills. Normally, Reyna was more relaxed during sword exercises, but today she found every slow and clumsy move annoying.

"Keep that sword up! Feet apart! Shield up! Protect your flank!" She yelled. With each order, she became more and more irate.

"Uh, maybe we should take a water break." Frank timidly suggested.

"Fine." Reyna agreed as she turned away from the relieved kids, who eagerly went to get a drink from the coolers.

Frank followed her and asked her out of earshot from the kids, "How did last night go?"

It was a simple question, but Reyna felt the hurt and anger rise up. She couldn't stop the anger in her voice. "It was a complete disaster. We're on our own."

Frank looked at her with a mixture of horror and concern. "But I thought that the auguries said we had to work with . . ."

"Well, obviously, they were wrong." Reyna snapped. She could feel herself loosing control.

"What happened?"

Reyna whirled around to face him, seething with anger. "I don't want to talk about it. And you will not bring it up again." She said it louder than intended. The students across the arena stopped their chatter to listen in on their conversation. Reyna felt a burning in her chest and knew she had to get out of their to get her emotions under control. "Finish up training." Reyna ordered Frank before she left the arena, trying to look as emotionally under control as possible. By the time she reached the Praetor's office, she let the tears fall.

She hit the desk as hard as she could. She was so angry. She was angry at Richard or Nightwing, whatever he went by. She was angry at herself for falling for his charms. Most of all she was angry that he had this control over her to make her feel this aweful. She had to get him out of her head.

Reyna did what she did best. She wiped away her tears and hardened her face, refusing to show any emotion or weakness.

This was how she survived the next week. She thought she was doing pretty good, until a Senate meeting was called.

"It has come to our attention that you have stopped all collaborations with the Justice League. This is of great concern." Senator Marino stared at Reyna.

"With all due respect," Reyna growled, "The Justice League may be more of a threat than a help."

"That's a strong accusation. I trust you have evidence to back it up?"

Reyna wanted to scream together a bunch of curses all about what she thought of Nightwing. But instead she took a deep breath. "I have been Praetor for almost eight years. I have always put the camp ahead of myself. We take a huge risk in trusting the Justice League."

"A risk that was decided to be acceptable. What has changed?"

Reyna went over her responses in her head, each one sounding lamer and pettier than the next. He hurt her feelings. He seduced her and then cruelly betrayed her. He kissed another girl! She couldn't say any of those out loud, lest looking like a fool. As she struggled to just come up with a sentence, the meeting was suddenly interrupted.

"We're under attack!" Frank yelled as he ran into the middle of the Senate.

"What?" Reyna said along with several others.

"One of Lupa's pack arrived with bullet wounds. It's confirmed. The wolf house is under attack."

Reyna let the horror of his words sink in. They had delivered at least twenty kids to the wolves for their own protection. An attack on the wolf house would result in those kids either being killed or retaken. "Sound the troops! Call the eagles! Get as many to the wolf house as possible!" Reyna ordered as she left the Senate with Frank on her heels.

"What about the Justice League?" Frank asked.

Reyna's heart clenched painfully at the mention of calling Richard. She couldn't. She physically just couldn't. "There's no time. We'll call the Amazons. They're closer." The troops lined up ready for battle. Frank turned into a giant eagle ready to help carry his share of troops. She prayed that they would get there on time.


	24. Chapter 24

Dick Grayson was on Bruce's last nerve. Dick wanted to move to the other side of the country, fine. He could give him his space. He wanted to set up a secret operation there, fine. He borrowed his batmobile, no scratches, so okay, he'll let it slide. But this was the last straw.

"Alfred, where is he now?" Bruce growled over the comms. His gaze was fixed on the near dark horizon as he flew his small plane. He went over and over in his mind how he was going to chew him out.

"He's on fourth and fifth Street." Alfred's voice stated calmly over the comms. "You should be coming up on him now."

Bruce saw him, alright. It was sort of hard to miss the armored batsuit designed to fight the strongest man on Earth. "I see him." Bruce growled. He landed the small plane a few feet from where he was.

"might I suggest letting him explain himself, first." Alfred encouraged.

Bruce growled in response. He wasted no time getting out of the plane as he approached Dick, in his batsuit no less! "You've got some guts stealing from me." He tried to remain calm, but his overspilling anger crept into his voice.

"I can explain." Dick panted. Sounded like he had a good workout out. If Bruce wasn't so mad he'd be concerned.

"You better believe, you will."

"There was a kid."

"What kid?" Bruce's temper was climbing.

Dick looked around for a little bit, then shrugged, "He must have run off."

Bruce lost it. "Get that suit back to my cave, now, before I rip it off of you." He seethed.

Dick raised his hands in surrender. He got into his plane, which was slightly larger than Batman's single rider. Batman kept him in sights the entire flight back. He was able to resist the urge to shoot him out of the sky. Alfred was waiting with a steaming cup of hot cocoa for Dick and a stiff drink for Bruce, once they were back inside the batcave.

Bruce inspected his armored suit, and felt his anger rise again."There are scratches all over it!" He stuck a finger up to the second knuckle into one of the scratches. "It's completely ruined! I'll have to get a whole new suit! What on Earth were you fighting?!" Bruce yelled.

Apparently, he was loosing his touch, because Dick only shrugged and sipped his cocoa indifferently.

"What has gotten into you? Why did you steal the suit?!" He yelled.

"I told you, a kid was in danger." There he went again, keeping his secrets, being vague.

"I have had it up to here with your secrets. I have tried to do everything you have asked, but this," he guestured to the suit, "is crossing the line. This has something to do with that girl, Reyna Ramirez, doesn't it?"

That got a reaction. Dick's head snapped up to meet Bruce's glare. "Have you been spying?"

"I don't need to. Her name was announced at the Charity Ball, and you went scampering after her. Who is she?" Bruce interrogated.

Dick's expression changed as a sly smile formed on his face. "What's the matter? You couldn't find anything on her? Have the skills of the great detective met a dead end?"

Bruce growled in frustration. He was right, of course. He could not find anything on the girl. He even checked government ghosted files. It was like she didn't exist. "Why are you protecting her? You're letting your emotions cloud your judgement. I've told you this."

"That it's better to be alone and miserable than find someone to make a little happiness in this messed up world?" Dick snapped. "And did it ever occur to you, all powerful Batman, that I'm trying to protect you?!"

Bruce felt like he had just been slapped across the face. "What?!" He said incredulously.

"I've seen too much, so I can't really go back. You already have so many enemies, I was trying to prevent you from . . . from . . . a whole lot more."

Bruce felt slightly stunned at Dick's confession. "Dick, you're not alone. The reason we have the Justice League is because we are stronger together. Whatever it is you have gotten yourself into, we can help you."

Dick lowered his head. "I'm afraid it's too late. I messed up. I messed up bad."

Bruce opened his mouth to speak when a strong voice behind him called out, "Nightwing! Are you Nightwing?"

Bruce turned to see what looked like a hanging picture hologram with a rainbow sheen. From the chest up, a young, bulky Asian man dressed in ancient Roman armor with a purple cape draped behind him stared at them.

"That's me!" Dick practically shouted. "I'm Nightwing." He tried to act more calmly the second time around.

"Nightwing, I am Praetor Frank Zhang of the twelth legions of New Rome. I beg of you to put aside whatever differences you have had with Praetor Reyna. We are under attack and being slaughtered."

Bruce glanced at Dick who had suddenly become pale and a look of horror crossed his face. "Reyna?"

"We got separated when she went to protect the children. Please, the auguries said we could not do this without mortal help."

"I'll get to Camp Jupiter as fast as I can." Dick rushed.

"Camp Jupiter isn't under attack, the Wolf House is."

"Where's the Wolf House?" Dick questioned.

Frank looked uneasily to the side. "North of Camp Jupiter. Google it!" Suddenly several shots were fired and Frank disappeared from view.

Bruce stared at the empty hologram until it just evaporated. "What the . . . ?" He turned to look at Dick, but he was gone. He just caught a glimpse of his plane racing out of the Batcave. "Alfred!" Bruce roared as he ran to his own small plane.

"Tracking him now." Alfred's calm voice replied.

Bruce sped out of the batcave, hoping to catch up with Dick. "He's headed west." Alfred reported.

"Look up the Wolf House." Bruce ordered.

"Looking now, sir."

What did Dick get himself into? Kids dressed up in Roman armor? What was going on? Whatever it was, he wasn't facing it alone.

"Sending coordinates now. It's an old burnt down house built by the author, Jack London, in 1913. It's in the middle of a park in Glen Ellen, California."

"What could possibly be going on there?" Bruce mused.

"Whatever it is, Master Dick is pushing the limits of his plane. He could tear up the engine before he gets there."

"How far out are we?" Bruce asked.

"At Master Dick's current speed, he'll reach it in fifteen minutes. At your current speed, in half an hour."

"Then I'll have to up my speed." Bruce increased his speed as far as he dared. Even though he was racing across the country, time seemed to creep to a standstill as he urged his plane to go faster. His fear grew with each passing minute.

"Master Dick has arrived." Alfred announced.

Bruce speed up a little bit more. "You are ten minutes from arrival. Master Dick has activated his guns. It seems he is firing into the park."

"What the . . ." Bruce speed up a little bit more.

"The plane is moving to hover over the Wolf House structure."

"How far out?" Bruce scanned the night sky.

"You should probably start slowing down. You should be approaching it now."

Bruce backed off on the speed and looked out over the horizon. It wasn't long before he he could see flashes of light emanating from machine guns. Bruce parked the plane a quickly as he could, jumped out, and ran towards the fray. He stumbled across some young kids, dressed up in roman armor. They were bleeding and reached out toward him. "Help me." They called. Bruce tried to control the panic rising inside him. Dick was out there in this. He had to find him.

"Rally to me! Rally to me!" A strong voice called out in the dark. Bruce followed the cry. He walked until soon he was walking with other kids, all dressed up in armor. They walked right up to the same young Asian man that called out to Nightwing in the rainbow hologram.

Bruce pushed his way to the Praetor. "Where's . . ." Bruce's question died as he saw Dick walk out of the decayed structure with a looking broken. "D . . . Nightwing.! Bruce called out as he ran over to him, relieved he was okay.

"This fight is not over!" Frank yelled to the kids standing around him as if they were troops in an army.

"What is going on?" Bruce asked him.

"Our allies, the Justice League, will help us with the mortals." Frank continued. A roar went up.

"I tried to warn you." Dick growled as he tapped his mask, no doubt switching to night vision. He pulled out a baterang in each hand as he glared out into the night.

"And we will show these monsters that you don't mess with half-bloods, you don't mess with Rome! We will send them back into the pit, where they belong!" Frank roused the kids.

A roar went out among them.

"This isn't a game!" He turned to Dick. "Their play armor, won't stand a chance against bullets!"

"Then I better make sure they don't get hit." Nightwing then ran into the night with an entire army running after him.

Bruce had no choice. He ran after Dick, turning on his night vision as he ran. Bullets rang out has Batman pulled ahead of the kids. It wasn't long before he caught up to Nightwing who fought ferociously as he took down five soldiers dressed in full army gear. Bruce saw more flanking his side. It seemed that they also had night vision goggles on. Batman quickly intervened an knocked them out.

"What do we have here?" A sultry voice asked. A beautiful woman dressed in a sequined dress walked out of the dark in front of him. "Hmm, a big strong hero all dressed in black. Aren't you just delicious." She sashayed up to him and draped her arms over his broad shoulders, bringing her face inches from his.

Bruce felt himself relaxing into her as the sounds of the battle around him faded. Her face inched closer to his. There was a yell beside him and a young, short girl with darkened skin stabbed her in the neck. The woman staggered back and lit on fire as she screamed/gurgled. Except, she was no longer quite human. She had claws and fangs and was that an animal's leg? She then burst into a cloud of golden dust. It took Bruce a moment to recover his senses.

"What . . . what was that?" He managed to get out.

"An Empusa. You might recognize it as a vampire." The girl answered in a southern drawl. "I'm Hazel."

"Batman"

"Obviously. You recovered enough to fight?" She asked.

Bruce felt offended. "I'm fine."

"Good. You take out the mortals, I'll take out the monsters." She stated matter of factly. He was twice as tall as her, but as she got into fighting stance, she looked just as intimidating.

He fought long into the night side by side with these kids that fought for their lives. It looked like a mismatched battle with the kids waving swords around and grown men with full army gear and guns pointed at them. Add strange looking creatures that shifted from human form to the strangest looking creatures, and the whole thing felt like a bizarre nightmare.

Frank appeared by Hazel's side as he sliced easily through a strange looking monster with a dog's face. "Hazel," he called out, "dawn approaches. We have them on the run. Go to the medic tent and help them get the bullets out."

Hazel nodded once and ran off. It wasn't long after that, he saw Nightwing beating up several men with a touch of routhlessness. Batmanpunched a man out cold and turned to face Nightwing. He only glared back.

"We did it." Frank panted as he looked around. The sky lightened, and they could see their surroundings better.

A man groaned nearby. Dick quickly found him and raised his fist. "Wait." Batman stopped him. He looked at the man, who was coming to. "Hey, wake up.". The man's eyes snapped open. "You think it's fun to shoot up kids?"

"Wha . . .?"

"Look around you."

The man did and his eyes free wide.

"Who do you work for?" Batman interrogated.

The man just kept looking around in horror.

"It's no use He was obviously being controlled by the Empusa." Frank said.

Batman looked at Nightwing, who looked pensive.

"The mist will take care of them." Frank said calmly as if that solved everything.

He looked sadly over the field. "Every able body, gather the wounded and . . . the dead!"


	25. Chapter 25

Dick felt numb as he looked at his surroundings. Kids lay moaning and crying for help. The battle flashed through his mind. He I had never felt so many emotions all at once run through him. Finding Rana mortally wounded trying to protect a group of small children. The chaos of battle and him filled with rage to where he wasn't even thinking, just attacking everything in sight. It wasn't until the empusa showed up trying to seduce him, that he's sobered up a little bit. Human bird feeling afraid of losing control of his actions again. But the familiar wave of complacency and desire never came. Only one thing remained fixed in his head and that was Reyna. What did that mean? he didn't have much time to contemplate too much on it as he saw those that were able, begin carry the wounded back to the Wolf House. Batman leaned over a kid whose leg was bleeding.

"You're Batman." He said deliriously.

Batman ignored him and pulled out a leather strip from his belt and began wrapping it around his leg creating a turnpike.

"You're the greatest detective in the Justice League. Your strength is thirty, so not that strong." The kid continued to ramble. Batmanpulled on the belt a little tighter then was needed, causing the kid to yelp out in pain. He was about to pick the kid up when Dick stopped him. "Wait a second. Hey kid, have you treated yourself?"

The kid looked confused for a moment and then his eyes went wide and he began searching his body. "It's here somewhere."

"Here," Dick grabbed the leather water bag attached to his belt and opened it. "Poor just enough to cover it. Too little, it won't heal the wound, too much he'll burn into ash. Make sure you don't touch it, because it will burn you into ash on contact." Dick instructed Batman.

The moment the liquid touched the kids wound, he sighed in relief. "Did you know this is Batman?" He said somewhat deliriously.

"Next give them one square of ambrosia." He pulled out the Ziploc bag from the kid's pouch attached to his belt. He exposed one square of the ambrosia and held it to his mouth. He hungrily eight the square. "Don't . . ."

"Touch it." Batman finished the sentence for him. "I think I got it."

Nightwing wasn't sure what to say, so he turned to take care of another kid, while Batman carried the one Dick had just treated back to the Wolf House. He treated the unconscious' kid's wounds and carried him over his shoulder back to the Wolf House. When Dick reached the Wolf House, there were several rows of bodies laying on the ground. On the right side the soldiers moaned in pain, while other kids ran from body to body doing what they could to treat the injured. On the left side of the Wolf House, bodies lay still and cold. Dick lay down his wounded soldier among those on the right side.

He noticed a dark-skinned girl with her hands out over a wounded soldiers body. She seem to be concentrating extremely hard while another kid hoovered nearby, watching the body carefully. Dick stepped a little closer to see what was going on, and when the wounded soldier started crying out, he noticed bullets rising from his flesh. The kid who had been waiting anxiously used some long type of tweezers to grab each bullet and place it into the hull of a shield that was already quite full. Once the bullets had been removed, he then anxiously went to work with nectar and even some needle and thread.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flash of purple that drew his attention. That's when he saw Reyna being carried on a stretcher that looked like it had been made out of herpurplePraetor cape. "Reyna!" He yelled. He had to see her. had to see if she was okay. Was she still alive? The last time he saw her, her body was protectively draped over several kids, riddled with bullets. She should have been dead, but she wasn't. "Please, save us." She begged him. He didn't want to leave her side, but a kid had shooed him away so he could address her wounds. But now, it was almost as if she were lifeless.

"Reyna!" He called out again and raced to get to her side.

Frank forcefully blocked him from getting to her, and Dick was tempted to knock him out, no matter how big he was. "You can't see her right now." Frank placated. "We're taking her to Camp Jupiter. Will Solace is there."

"I need to see her." Dick insisted.

"She's unconscious, and the sooner she sees Will, the better her chances are."

"Who is this Will?" Batman asked. It was a good question. What made this Will so special.

"He's a son of Apollo. He has his gift of healing."

Reyna was laid in the middle of the park along, with another wounded kid, where the grass was thick and slightly damp with dew. Shortly after everyone had cleared the field, a giant eagle swooped down and paused for just a moment on the ground to gently pick up the two bodies in each claw, and then with one flap of its wings was back in the air, flying swiftly away.

"What the . . .?" Dick heard Batman say behind him.

"She'll be there in a matter of minutes." Frank assured him.

"Is she going to live?" Dick asked the dreaded question.

"She's a fighter. And with Will there, her chances improve greatly." Frank assured him.

"No thanks to you!" A biting voice snapped.

Dick turned to see who had spoken when he was met with a fist across his jaw that laid him out.

"This is your fault!"

Dick shook off the hit and looked to see who had hit him. At first, he thought it was Reyna. But it wasn't. She looked just enough like Reyna to be her . . . sister.

"I told her, men aren't to be trusted." She scowled at him. Had Reyna told her what he had done?

"You must be Hylla, Reyna's sister." Dick rubbed his jaw.

Her eyes flashed red as she moved to attack Dick again. He thought about fighting back, but then he remembered Reyna's hurt look and thought, maybe he deserved this. He waited for the hit to land, but it stopped short, due to Batman grabbing her arm.

"Don't touch me!" She ripped her arm out of his.

"Don't hit him." Batman growled.

She went to attack again, and Batman defended himself, blocking every attack. Suddenly, the dark skin girl that Dick had seen removing bullets earlier stepped in between them. "Queen Hylla! Camp Jupiter is allies with the Justice League."

That stopped her. "I saw the way he was looking at her." She said defensively. "Stay away from my sister." She spat at Dick.

The very thought crushed Dick. He forced himself to stand. "I can't." He stated the simple truth.

"What did you say?" She looked at him disbelievingly.

"I'm in love with her." Everyone'sheads turned to look at him, including Batman's.

"You lie." She growled.

"Either that or I'm just that good at resisting Empusa."

Hylla looked frustrated and flustered for just a moment, before she snapped, "Last warning, stay away from my sister. I didn't sacrifice myself so she could be used by some wanna-be hero. Consider yourself lucky you're under the protection of Camp Jupiter." With that she turned and left.

Batman and Nightwing watched her and several other women climb into vehicles and drive away. What did she mean.

"Don't mind her. It's an Amazon thing or maybe a sister thing." Hazel said in a calm southern accent.

"Alright everyone, shows over." Frank yelled. "We've got work to do."

Everyone turned back to taking care of the wounded and collecting the dead, including Batman and Nightwing. They moved among them carefully, trying to save as many lives as they could. Every once in awhile, Dick would see a giant eagle touchdown briefly and then fly back up again with two bodies in its claws. Those that were able, loaded up the less critically injured in vehicles and drove off in vans and SUVs. Before long there were only a handful of kids milling about.

"That's the last of them, sir." The medic informed Frank. "There are two more critically wounded that I was wondering if you could, you know . . ."

"I was waiting for you to ask." Frank smiled warmly. He then turned to Batman and Nightwing. "Thanks for all of your help. Hope to hear from you soon."

He then walked over to two wounded bodies in the middle of the field where they were laid for the eagles to pick them up. He stretched out his arms and transformed before their eyes into a giant eagle, just like the ones that had been flying around. He flapped his wings once lifting him just enough to gently lift up the two wounded bodies within his giant claws, and then took off with a few strong flaps of his wings.

Nightwing's jaw dropped. He had seen transformations into animals by Beast Boy several times, but never giant size. the rest of the demigods loaded up and drove off. The park was empty in the morning sun. There was barely any sign that there had been a battle. What mortals that had been wounded or knocked out had woken up and found their way out of the park. Dick boarded his plane, and was just beginning to realize how exhausted he was. Batman followed him on board, and it was a testament to just how tired Dick was, he didn't even care. Batman sat in the pilot seat, while Dick sat in the passenger seat. He overheard Batman tell Alfred to fly his small plane back. Dick stared out at the Wolf House as they took off. It was so quiet, now. The exhaustion was setting in, but he couldn't rest, not yet.

"You want to let me in on what all that was back there?" Batman asked calmly.

Dick sighed deeply. He took off his arm computer that had all the information he had collected and handed it to Batman. Then he told him everything. He told him about the Greek and Roman gods, their children being hunted at a young age, the monsters that plague them, and how those young kids were the only defence the world had against the mythological monsters that wished to see the world burn. He told him about Deathstroke. Lastly, he told him about Reyna. He talked about their missions to rescue kids who had been kidnapped and returned them to either Camp Half-Blood or the Wolf House. They were back at the cave by the time he finished talking.

Batman had remained quiet the entire trip, listening to every word Dick spoke. It wasn't until he had parked the plane and turned off the engine that he turned and asked, "Does Diane know about this?"

"The gods took her memory away about the camps and the children of the gods. Something to do about being too honest." Dick explained.

Batman nodded. "You could have avoided that hit." Batman stated.

"Don't think you'd understand." Dick sighed.

"Same reason you drink hot chocolate now and not Bourbon, I suppose." Batman stood up, and left the plane. When Dick found the energy to stand up he left to find Batman at his computer. He had Dick's arm computer plugged into it. Alfred stood at a table with a steaming cup of hot cocoa as well as a tray of food. Dick opted for the food and the hot cocoa.

"What's with the strands of blood. The DNA is all messed up."

"Demigod blood. I couldn't figure out why they were taking it from them."

"What strand is this?" Batman pointed to another really messed up sample of blood.

"Uh, I think that was taken from a cyclops or some type of monster." Dick said with a mouth full of food.

"They took blood from monsters?"

"Yeah. We even rescued a Cyclops that was nice. That one was weird."

"Dick!" Batman looked at him. Dick took that to mean that he wanted him to come over. He grabbed his hot chocolate and walked over to Batman's computer, careful to keep his distance since he was holding liquid. "Look at this." he pulled up a sample of demigod blood and monster blood side by side. "Some of the monsters seem to have similar blood signitures as that of the demigods."

"Olympian blood." Dick guessed. Some of the monsters were given birth by the gods." Dick remembered.

"But none of the monsters have the mortal side of the DNA." Batman continued.

"Well, yeah. They're half mortal half Olympian god." Dick said this as though it was obvious.

"If I were mortal and I wanted to get rid of powerful beings that were half Olympian god and half mortal, I wouldn't want to fight them head-on."

The answer impacted Dick like a ton of bricks. He felt the air rush out of him, and he dropped his mug full of hot chocolate crashing to the floor. "Genocide. They're looking for a way to commit genocide. Kill the demigods, but not the monsters. They'll all die in one fell swoop. There'll be no one left to defend us from the monsters."

"Sir," Alfred interrupted, "perhaps now would be a good time to check your communique on the traveling group of vans. Something came in while you were out."

Batman pulled up a map with some blinking lights that were somewhere in the middle of Nebraska. He zoomed in on it, but all that they could see was a large building that look like a warehouse of some type. "Switching to infrared." Batman said as he pushed a button. The image changed to show hundreds upon hundreds of red dots inside the warehouse. "Analyzing." Batman said as he studied the computer. "This is the place." Batman said with a grim voice.

"How can you be so sure?" Dick asked.

"No parking lot around it with any cars that would suggest that this is a working warehouse. Oh, and I'm picking up Olympian blood."

"You can do that?"

"Now that I know what I'm looking for. Question is how much of it is demigod and how much of it is monster. Still want to do this on your own?"

"Reyna needs to know about this." Dick said before he realized his mistake. "I . . . I mean Frank."

"You know how to do that hologram?" Batman asked curiously.

"Uh, no. I meant by phone."

Batman looked surprised, but recovered quickly. "Of course."

Dick looked up the number on his cell phone and dialed. A loud buzzing sound indicated that it was busy. He tried again, only to get the same result. He tried several more times, before he finally gave up.

"Can't you leave a message?"

"They're a bit wary of technology. Monsters can track them through it." Dick explained. "So they don't have the latest tech.

Batman raised an eyebrow. "Well, that's inconvenient. How are we supposed to contact them?"

Dick felt his heart race as an idea came to him. "There is one way, but it's a long shot."


	26. Chapter 26

Bruce sat in the busy shop, uninterested in any of the items around him. His attention was fixed on the little cafe' across the street. More specifically, on Dick, who sat nervously at the table by the window. He had been there since the shop opened. He had a cup of hot chocolate in front of him, but he hadn't taken a single sip of it. Instead, Dick's eyes kept a vigil watch over the street, watching everyone coming and going.

Bruce watched his young prodigy with a fascinated curiosity and concern.Dick, of course didn't know he was there. He had stubbornly insisted he go alone. But Batman wasn't about to let him out of his sight. Evidently giving him too much leeway had not been the smartest thing. Now he had them involved in something beyond the normal, even for them. And so here he was, spying on his adopted son.

Dick took another sip of his cocoa as he glanced out the window and froze with the drink to his lips. Bruce looked around the street to see if there was a monster somewhere. His whole body tensed up ready to pounce. He followed Dick's gaze to a young woman with long black hair, who had just gotten out of a taxi, and was now standing in front of the cafe'. She fiddled with the seam of her jeans as she just stared at the cafe'. It looked like she was debating whether or not she should go in or leave. Dick remained in his frozen state as he stared at her. She didn't look like any of the kids that he met during the battle. She looked like an ordinary girl dressed in simple tennis shoes, jeans, and a t-shirt, but the way Dick stared at her, she might as well have been a mythical unicorn where one false move ends in either your death or the unicorn running away, impossible to catch.

A determined look crossed her face and she walked in. Bruce watched as Dick's eyes followed her every move. He'd never seen him act like this before. She went up to the counter and paid for a cup of hot chocolate. Dick continued to hold as completely still as possible, like he was afraid he would scare her off. This must be the girl he had kept a secret from him for so long: Reyna.

Once she got her hot chocolate, she turned and looked right at Dick. Bruce watched as Dick swallowed roughly as she walked over to his table. He stood to meet her. Bruce took out his eavesdropping device and pointed it at the couple.

"Is this seat taken?" She asked quietly.

"No." Dick rushed to answer. Shegave a small smile and sat across from him. Dick sat back down, and he rubbed his sweaty palms nervously on his pants. She took a sip of her hot cocoa with her brown eyes fixed on him. "Soo, you're feeling better?" Dick stated the obvious. Bruce groaned at Dick's awkwardness.

"I still get some aches and pains, and I get a little winded, but other than that; yes, I'm feeling better." She gave him a small smile and took another sip.

They sat in awkward silence, making sure not to make eye contact. Dick would stare at her and then she would meet his gaze and he would shyly look away. Bruce cringed at the awkwardness and was getting impatient with the two of them. Then Dick and Reyna both blurted out, "I wanted to . . ." at the same time.

They both laughed awkwardly. Bruce groaned. It was just painful to watch. "Please go ahead." Dick offered.

"I wanted to apologise for my behavior." Reyna started.

"You have nothing to apologise for. I'm the one who messed everything up. I only wanted to spend the evening with you, and then . . . things went sideways." Batman shifted uncomfortably. Dick ran a hand through his hair. "You're all I can think about."

Bruce raised his eyebrows at the bold confession.

"I overreacted. I let my sister get inside my head and . . ., well . . . I let my emotions get the best of me."

"Your sister is very protective of you." Dick rubbed his jaw, most likely remembering her right hook.

"Yeah, sorry about that." Reyna blushed and took another sip.

"What did she mean by she didn't sacrifice herself, just for you to be hurt?"

Reyna sighed heavily. "Hylla has always been a bit protective of me, but no more so than when we were held captive by pirates."

"What?" Dick sounded surprised.

Bruce's eyes widened.Of all the explanations, Bruce never expected pirates to be involved.

"The pirate Blackbeard to be precise." Reyna continued.

"I thought he was dead?"

"He is now." Reyna said with some distaste. She sighed before she continued. "Long story short, while we were being held captive by pirates, pirates do what they normally do to young girls. Whenever one would come looking at me, Hylla drew the attention to her. Eventually we escaped the island, but Hylla was never the same."

"Island?"

Reyna sighed shifted uncomfortably. "After we escaped my home, we got lost at sea. We ended up in the Sea of Monsters and became stranded on Circe's island."

"Circe. Isn't she that one sorceress that hates men and turns them into pigs?"

"Guinea pigs." Reyna looked embarrassed as she corrected him. "She found them less smelly, and she liked to put them in classrooms."

Dick looked at her in horror.

"I was young." Reyna snapped. "And, she was the closest I ever had to a mother. She took care of us, taught us magic."

"You learned magic from Circe?" Dick was impressed.

"Some. I wasn't there long enough to learn a lot. Look, the point is, Hylla has her own demons. I think she just doesn't want me to go through what she did. It was a long time ago, and we were both young. I know that's why she chose to join the Amazons."

"That's rough." Dick said. Bruce silently agreed.

"By the way, thank you for coming to rescue." Reyna blushed as she took a sip from her hot chocolate.

"How's Camp Jupiter?" Dick asked.

"Where was Camp Jupiter?" Batman asked beneath his breath. A camp full of armed kids seemed like something to keep an eye on.

Reyna sighed heavily. "We lost fifty-three kids. All of New Rome and the Senate are in an uproar, demanding retubution." Reyna looked down.

"It's not your fault." Dick blurted.

"That is where you are wrong. I let my emotions get the better of me. I knew what we were up against. But still, I didn't call you. I have been avoiding you."

"Because I hurt you." Dick looked down. Bruce shifted uncomfortably again as he watched with interest.

Reyna looked completely miserable. "Did you find anything?"

"Yeah." Dick replied. She looked up to meet his eyes. "We found their base of operations. A warehouse in the middle of Nebraska. They have a pretty big army amassed there. We think we know what they are trying to do . . . with your blood."

Reyna gave him a questioning look. "We?"

"Batman and I." Dick admitted.

"You told him, then."

Batman narrowed his eyes.

"He sort of followed me to the battle. He had a bit of a rude awakening." Dick chuckled. "He took a look at some of the data we've found, and it looks like they have identified specific genetic markers unique to demigods."

"What do you mean?"

Dick took a deep breath. "We think they are going to try and create a virus or toxin specific to demigods." He looked at her worriedly.

Fear flooded her features. "Genocide?! Gods, my dreams. This is what they were about. The legions of Rome slaughtered before they can even defend themselves." She seemed genuinely shaken by the thought.

Dick's hand shot out and grabbed ahold of her's. "I'm not going to let that happen. We'll stop them, together."

A fire lit in her eyes. "We will bring the wrath of the gods upon them. Camp Jupiter is preparing for battle. The Amazon's and the Hunters have both pledged to fight. Percy Jackson is rallying the Greeks. Just tell us where."

Bruce made some mental notes of the names. He'd research them the first chance he got.

"Don't forget the Justice League. I'm good, just not that good."

Reyna gave a small smile. "The auguries were consulted. This is a battle that will determine the fate of the world. And you're right, we will need to join forces with your Justice League. However, there was one stipulation demanded of by the gods."

"Stipulation?" Dick questioned.

"No foreigners."

"No foreigners?" Dick asked confusedly. Batman was wondering the same thing.

"Aliens." Reyna explained.

"Wait, you telling me no Superman, Superboy, Green Martian, or Miss Martian?"

"Sorry, the gods are clear on this point. They don't want the "foreigners" knowing about us. I worry about the ones you will be telling about us."

"But, they are our heaviest hitters!"

"Do you really want to test the gods?" Reyna challenged.

Dick sighed, but shook his head. "Okay, that still leaves us with the likes of Green Arrow, Black Canary, Tigress, oh, and of course, Batman." Batman couldn't help the small smile on his face at that comment. "How do the gods feel about magic users or metahumans?" Dick asked.

"As long as they were born on this Earth, I don't see any reason why they would be excluded from battle."

"Good. I could use some help from the Flash and Zatanna. I suppose Dr. Fate would be eliminated." Reyna raised a questioning eyebrow. "He basically looks after the universe. Whatabout Blue Beetle?"

"Who?"

Honestly, did she know nothing about the members of the Justice League, Bruce grumbled.

"He's from earth, but has an alien AI attached to him."

"That sounds aweful." Reyna looked concerned.

"He's managed to make it work. The tech was originally designed to take over the planet, but we managed to put a stop to it. And now . . ."

"No." Reyna interrupted him. "No alien tech, especially if it was designed to attack world's."

"But he's good now." Dick stopped at Reyna's glare. "Any problems with an earth boy who had a alien blood transfusion?"

"Does the blood report back to an alien entity?" Reyna asked coolly.

"No."

"Then it should be fine."

"Good. Have a feeling Beast Boy would love to meet your Praetor Frank Zhang." Dick smiled excitedly. "Any problems with Atlanteans?"

"Those under Neptune's rule?" She set down her cup and thought for a moment. "I'm not sure. Frank was held underwater during a quest by a group of mer. Percy, the son of Poseidon, was looking for them, but the mer specifically hid themselves from him. Frank said it had something to do with politics. Percy thinks Amphritrite didn't want him in her realm."

"Amphritrite?"

"Neptune, er, Poseidon's wife."

Dick was quiet for a moment before understanding dawned. "Oh, because he's . . ."

"Technically a bastard. The majority of the half-bloods are." Reyna finished the sentence.

"Right."

"Anyway, you would have to ask them. They most likely know about us, being under Neptunes rule. They would know more about the politics than I would.

"Okay, I can do that. Now for the big question. What about Wonder Woman?"

Batman waited with baited breath.

Reyna sat back in her seat. "That was brought up as well. The final conclusion was that no matter how beneficial it would be to have her, her condition remains the same. I'm afraid it's up to the gods whether she joins the fight or not."

"Oh." Dick looked disappointed. Bruce felt frustrated. "So don't count on it." He deduced.

"Basically." Reyna looked at him apologetically.

"Okay, soooo I guess I'll rally the forces."

"You'll give us the coordinates of where to meet?"

"Right!" Dick sounded confidently, but Batman groaned as he knew he had forgotten that little detail. Reyna seemed oblivious to his forgetfulness. He reached into his pocket and produced the paper he had written a time and place to meet.

Reyna studied the paper. "You want to meet in two days?"

"I still have to get my team together." Dick reasoned.

"I suppose you're right." She sighed, but she looked anxious.

Bruce expected them to leave, but they didn't. They just sat there in a long awkward silence.

"Would you like to get some lunch?" Dick asked hesitantly.

Reyna looked down at their hands still clasped together. "I . . . don't want to get hurt again."

"I don't want to hurt you ever again." Dick leaned forward. "Give me a second chance." He pleaded.

She studied his eyes as if looking for something. "If you so much as look at another woman." Her voice held a dangerous edge to it.

"I won't." Dick promised.

She went back to studying their clasped hands before finally asking, "Where do you want to eat?"

Dick smiled widely. "There's a restaurant around the corner. We can walk there."

"Lead the way."

Dick stood up, never letting her hand go. They left the shop hand in hand. Bruce moved to follow them, but stopped short when Dick leaned down and whispered something in her ear, and she replied back by surprising him with a kiss on the lips. Bruce watched Dick deepen it as he wrapped his arms around her. When the kiss finally ended, and they continued on their way, Bruce couldn't help but see the large smile on Dick's face. He was happy. Bruce couldn't really remember a time when he saw Dick smile like that.

Bruce turned and headed back to his car. He couldn't spy on them anymore. It felt wrong. And maybe he had been wrong about a lot of things.

**Okay, all you hardcore DC fans, let me know who you want to see in the final battle. The criteria has been listed.**

No** aliens**

**No alien tech**

**meta-humans are allowed**

**Basically anyone born on this Earth and is mortal**

**No Wonder woman.**

I** look forward to what you come up with.**


	27. Chapter 27

Nightwing watched nervously as Green Arrow, Black Canary, Flash, and Shazam made their way into his makeshift base in San Francisco. They were the original Justice League members, short of Superman and Wonder Woman. He had looked up to them all his life, and now it was up to him to convince them to not only join a fight seeped in mythology, but to keep it from the rest of the Justice League. He felt a little bit better seeing his old team, Kaldur, Artemis, and Zatanna. Beast Boy and La'gaan hoovered near them awkwardly. Kid Flash (aka Impulse) seemed more interested in checking out the place as he zoomed from place to place. It was a little bit hard to see his old friend's uniform on the kid, but for the most part, he was at peace. Batwoman stood in the back if the room preferring to observe rather than interact. He wasn't even sure how Batman convinced her to come. Arson was doing something similar on the other side of the room. Red arrow looked around politely, but didn't interact with the others. Batman and Nightwing had both decided that it was best to leave Tim out of this. There were a few that Nightwing didn't really know. But, regardless of tenure, everyone seemed confused and on edge as to why they were there.

Once he was sure everyone who had been invited was there, Nightwing cleared his throat to get their attention. No effect. Everyone continued to chat amongst themselves. Batman stood, and the entire room went silent as he commanded the room with merely his presence. Once everyone was settled in their seats and their attention fixed on Batman, he sat down and turned his attention to Nightwing. Batman had just given him the floor. Now it was his turn.

"Thanks for coming." Nightwing began.

"You do realize you are missing a few key members of the Justice League." Green Arrow interrupted. "I don't feel comfortable hiding things from our team."

Nightwing took a steadying breath. "I am more aware of their absence than you know. I promise everything will be explained." Nightwing stood his ground.

Green Arrow leaned back in his chair and folded his arms. He was going to at least listen.

Nightwing took a deep breath. "Before I begin, I need you to believe in one thing, Greek Mythology."

"Like Wonder Woman, who has already said she's a daughter of Zeus, as well as Cassie?" Black Canary pointed out.

"Yes, but you need to realize that there is much more. The Greek and Roman gods are very much alive." Nightwing glanced at Kaldur to see if he was reacting to what he was saying. Kaldur, along with Aquaman, remained stoicly silent, revealing nothing. "And just like in the myths, they are having affairs with mortals and having children. Demigods." He watched a few members exchange questioning looks. "These kids have been saving the world for thousands of years from powerful beings that want to destroy it and rule in chaos."

"Kids? I find it highly unlikely that kids fighting Greek monsters would go unnoticed." Flash reasoned.

"They would if they were being hidden from us. Wonder Woman is an example of this." There was a little bit of a commotion. "It is why she was not invited. The gods took away her memories of their children to protect them . . . to protect them from us. As much of an asset she would be here, she can't know, for her own safety. Trying to make someone remember something that has been removed by the gods, evidently can cause some sever trauma.

"Something else I noticed is everytime magic is performed, or a monster shows up on camera, they go static. In person, the magic, or the mist as they call it, makes you see something else. Or, you doubt yourself."

"It's true. Magic and technology never go together." Zatanna agreed.

"But surely we would have noticed something, after all, we have the Watchtower equiped with the most powerful monitoring system in the world?" Flash argued.

"Fifty-six kids died just a week ago in a fight for their life in the middle of a park." Nightwing growled showing more emotion than he meant to. "Did the Watchtower see that? If it weren't for Batman and I, they would have been slaughtered."

All eyes turned to Batman, who remained still as he continued to focus on Nightwing.

"Look, they didn't volunteer to be heros like we did, but they haven't backed down either. The Roman demigod I have been working with, Praetor Ramirez, and I believe that an empousa, a Greek vampire, is controlling a wealthy mortal, er, human, along with other humans to destroy the demigods and possibly the Olympian gods. Basically, anyone with Olympian blood. Batman and I think that they will do this by genocide. Scientist have been studying demigod's blood. Mostly kids who had no idea who their parent was, or who they were. If they succeed, there will be nothing stopping them from destroying our world, not even us. The demigods are the only ones who can fight these monsters.

"We have tracked the vans they have been using to an isolated building in Nebraska. It is heavily guarded by humans and monsters alike. The demigods are already converging for war. But, while they are excellent at fighting monsters, they have sworn to take no mortal's life. I need brave mortals, humans, heros to risk entering this world and having your eyes opened to the horrors of it."

The room was eerily quiet when he finished. No one said a word and Nightwing started to get nervous again.

Green Arrow broke the silence as he asked, "So let me get this straight. There are demigod kids running around fighting monsters."

"Those that are trained."

"And they've saved us?' Green Arrow said doubtfully.

"Don't be so quick to judge." Kaldur admonished. You didn't think much of the Young Justice when it was formed, either."

"I understand why Wonder Woman and Cassie are not to be a part of this, but Superman, Green Martian, and Green Lantern? Why are they not here?" Aquaman questioned.

"Uh, well, the Demigods consulted something called the augeries, and it said no aliens or alien tech. I guess the gods don't trust 'foreigners.'" Nightwing did air quotes when he said foreigners, but as he said it out loud he realized how stupid it sounded.

"I see. That makes sense." Aquaman said as though this were the most normal thing in the world.

"I suppose that's why my father, I mean, Dr. Fate isn't here." Zatanna asked not quite looking at Nightwing. Ever since her father had been taken over by Dr. Fate, it was a touchy subject. It was almost as though he had died.

"Yes. Speaking of whose allowed," Nightwing said tenitively, "I was told there might be some politics preventing you from fighting?" Nightwing asked cautiously.

Aquaman raised an eyebrow.

"Because of a son of Poseidon?" Nightwing clarified.

At the mention of Poseidon, Kaldur and La'gaan's eyes snapped to stare at Aquaman. Aquaman rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "You're right. There may be some problems there." Nightwing's heart sank. There were so few as it was, to loose three more was not good. "For me." Aquaman continued. "My position might make it questionable to fight by my god's half-blood son. But I don't see why the lower ranks couldn't join the fight."

La'gaan hissed, "Yes." and raised his hand in a high-five. Kaldur promptly high-fived him before returning to his attentive state, but this time he had a smile on his face.

Everyone watched this exchange silently until Green Arrow interrupted, "Wait a minute. You knew about all of this? Why didn't you say anything?"

"And risk what happened to Diana? I got the message. I can keep a secret. One does not challenge the gods. Poseidon, though, I must say, is one of the more lax gods." Aquaman calmly explained.

"So why the celebration?" Beast Boy asked curiously.

"Are you kidding? We're fighting along side with greatness. The Perseus Jackson, the son of Poseidon himself, is the greatest swordman of his generation. He is considered to be the most powerful demigod of the age." La'gaan ranted.

"Don't bring it up to the other half-bloods, though. It could upset some of them." Kaldur added.

"So this is all really real." Black Canary breathed.

"Be warned. Once your eyes are actually opened, you may attract the monsters attention too." Nightwing cautioned.

"Batman? You've been awfully quiet. What do you have to say about all this?" Batwoman noted.

Batman looked away from Nightwing for the first time since he started the meeting, and addressed the League. "I'm going," He stated simply, "with or without you. These kids, they need help. They need someone to watch their backs.

Batman's words sent a chill down Nightwing's spine. He was right. This assortment of mortals wasn't brought together for just the battle ahead, but for future threats against the demigods from mortals.

"I'll go." Shazam spoke up eagerly.

"You know La'gaan and I will be there." Kaldur smiled.

"I can't wait to hear all the details when you get back. Rumor has it, Poseidon favors him above all his children." Aquaman smiled.

La'gaan nodded vigorously.

"Well famous demigod or no, I'll fight by your side." Artamis gave Nightwing a sad smile. Nightwing's sorrow for Wally rose up in his throat. She still trusted him, after everything.

One by one, everyone present agreed to fight.

"Good, we'll leave here at six sharp. Bring your best battle gear. Make no mistake, this is a war."


	28. Chapter 28

The next morning, Nightwing stood by the jet ramp, supervising the team getting on board. Batman was already in the pilots chair. Most of the team was already on. Nightwing watched the last few straglers, when Dr. Fate appeared out of nowhere.

"Dr. Fate?" Nightwing said nervously. He felt like a kid that had just been caught with their hand in the cookie jar. He really didn't want to have a showdown with him. "Uh, what brings you here?"

"Do you think I don't already know what is going on?" His deep unearthly voice echoed.

"Uh." Nightwing stamered.

"I respect the boundaries of the panthanons, but I also know that the outcome of this battle not only affects the world, but the universe. So, we have come to an agreement."

"We have?" Nightwing said nervously. By now, the majority of the heros had come out to see what was going on.

Dr. Fate then removed the helmet. "I will be fighting instead." Zatara said.

"Dad!" Zatanna ran into her father's arms and they hugged tightly.

"It's always good to have you." Batman commented.

"There's a bit more to it than that. I am fighting for my family. I am a son of Hecate, goddess of magic."

"Dad?" Zatanna looked at him as though meeting him for the first time.

"I have kept you safe from my world for so long, but I suppose I should have known that I couldn't keep you from it forever. You have the blood of Olympus in your veins and are a Legacy of Hecate. This is your world too that you are entering."

Zatanna looked like she was having a hard time processing this earthshaking information. "These demigods are, I mean, I'm related to . . ."

"Family relations are rather blurred when it comes to the Olympians. The only ones that you would really consider family would be other children of Hecate."

"So they would be your brother's and sisters?"

"Yes. Perhaps we will meet some. It has been some time since I have been at camp."

"Ahh, then you haven't heard." La'gaan said with a huge smile on his face. "Perseus Jackson was given any reward he wanted after saving the world, even godhood, and he turned it down to make the gods swear to include all the gods and goddesses in the council and for every god and goddess to have a cabin for their kids at camp. He even made them swear to claim their kids by the age of thirteen. He's so awesome." La'gaan ranted.

Everyone was silent for a moment. "No I hadn't heard. Maybe we could visit camp together?" He smiled at his daughter.

Zatanna smiled back.

"All right,looks like Zatara is coming with us. Load up, let's go." Nightwing called out. Everyone loaded up and they were off.

Nightwing couldn't help but feel himself get anxious the closer they got. It had only been a couple of days since he last saw Reyna, but he couldn't wait to see her again. With the speed of the plane, it seemed they were there in no time. Batman skirted around the target and about a mile out they found a large base camp with several tents set up. Batman lowered the plane gently a few yards from the camp. Nightwing suddenly felt nervous. He was going to see her again, but this time everyone was going to be judging her. The plane's ramp lowered and they exited the plane with Nightwing and Batman in the lead. He saw two figures in the distance with bright purple capes walking toward them. Nightwing couldn't help but be drawn to her. Everyone else followed behind.

Soon Nightwing, with the Justice League behind him, was standing opposite of Reyna, Praetor Frank Zhang, and several other kids behind them. She looked stunning dressed in her full Roman armor.

"Ava, Justice League." Reyna called out and put her fist to her heart.

" Uh?" Nightwing wasn't sure what to say.

"It's how we respectfully greet allies." Reyna smirked.

"Oh." Nightwing said stupidly.

"Thank you for coming, and on time, which is more than I can say for the graecus."

"The Greeks." Kaldur translated.

"You were able to get the Atlantians." Reyna said as though she were impressed.

"Some. Aquaman was unable to come, but Kaldur and La'gaan are always good to have in a fight." Nightwing pointed them out. "This is Batman, my mentor. Green Arrow, Arsonal, Red Arrow, Bat Woman, Shazam, Flash, Kid Flash, Zatara, who we just found out is a son of Hecate, his daughter Zatanna, Beast Boy, Bumblebee, Empress, Black Lightning, Static, and Artemis."

"Artemis? Not sure how the Hunters will react to that. I'm Praetor Reyna Rameriz. This is Praetor Frank Zhang. These are lieutenants over the legions of Rome. The Hunters of Artemis," she glanced at Artemis, "are over there." she pointed to the right of the camp. "You will be meeting Thalia, her first lieutenant and a daughter of Zeus. The Amazons are over there." She pointed to e left of camp. " I believe you have already mety sister Hylla, queen of the Amazons." She gave Nightwing a knowing look. Nightwing unconsciously rubbed his jaw. "Hopefully the graecus will be here soon. In the mean time we have a tent set up to discuss battle strategies. If you will follow me."

Reyna turned and led them back the way they had come. Nightwing hurried to catch up to her.

"Looks like you still had a good turn out."

"Do you think we have enough mortals? Reyna worried under her breath.

Nightwing glanced back at the crew he had brought. " They may not look like much, but they pack a punch. We'll protect you."

"I just hope to stop them in time."

"We will." Nightwing assured her. He desperately wanted to hold her hand, but thought better of it with so many watching.

They were just approaching a huge tent when a black dog the size of a semi literally jumped out of the shadows. Nightwing immediately got into a fighting position along with the rest of the Justice League. Green Arrow, Red Arrow, and Arson drew their bows, and Shazam flew into the air. He thought Reyna would draw her sword, but she only smiled.

"Nico, good to see you make it." Reyna said pleasantly to the dog. Then he realized she wasn't talking to the dog. She was talking to a kid sitting on top the dog. He had black hair and was wearing an old leather jacket that looked like a replica of the WWII pilot jackets. Behind him was another kid with bright blond hair.

"Like you ever doubted." Nico smirked. The giant dog walked in a circle a couple of times and them promptly laid down, opened it's gapping jaws in a yawn, showing everyone it's razer sharp teeth, and then fell asleep. "Hope you're not planning on attacking my Hellhound." Nico glared at Nightwing and the Justice League members.

Reyna turned to them. "I know it's a bit of a shock, but she's friendly."

"I thought you were supposed to get mortal's that didn't want to kill us." Nico said casually as he slid off the Hellhound.

"Oh, stop." The blond scolded. "How else did you think they would react to a Hellhound. She's a sweetheart, really." He assured them.

"To our friends." Nico added cryptically.

"This is Nico Di'Angelo, Son of Hades and ambassador between Camp Jupiter and Camp Half-Blood. And, this is Will Solace, son of Apollo and head medicus." Reyna introduced them. "These are the hand picked mortals of the Justice League. I hope the rest of the graecus are close behind." Reyna questioned.

"Percy had to round up some pegasus, but they should be here soon. Will wanted to set up early." Nico explained.

"Now that is melting out of the shadows." Flash whispered to Batman. Batman shot Flash an intense glare that caused him to raise his hands in surrender.

"Oh, Percy wanted me to warn you that he got Clarisse to come." Will said. "She's a daughter of Ares. She killed the drakon during the first war. She can be . . . difficult, but she's great in battle. If she gets here beforehand he does, expect attitude."

"Great." Reyna said less than enthusiastically.

"The graecus are here!" A shout called out.

"Percy must have pushed them." Will said impressed.

Everyone turned to see what looked like a flock of birds headed toward them. It wasn't long, however though, that the flock got bigger, and you could see that people were riding on top of them. Nightwing watched in amazement as the pegasi circled them once and then landed in a stampede not far from the tent. It was an impressive sight.

"The greeks sure do you know how to make an entrance." Shazam looked on excitedly. Nightwing knew that the rest of the Justice League members were equally impressed along with himself as they watched the beautiful pegasi. Several young kids had doubled up on their back and were now climbing off. Unlike the Roman demigod's in their pristine armor, these demigods wore jeans and orange t-shirts with just a leather armor over their chest and back. They each had a sword strapped around their waist, but it all looked a bit mishappen.

At the head was a tall guy with black hair. He helped a young woman with curly blond hair off the Pegasus first before he got off. The girl walked purposely over towards them, while the young man pulled out a box of donuts and fed it to the black pegasus' he rode.

"Ava, Annabeth Chase." Reyna called out.

"Ava nothing." Annabeth said as she enveloped Reyna in a hug. "You gave us the scare of our lives. Don't you ever do that again."

Reyna looked surprised at the hug, but reciprocated it. "I'm fine." She sputtered.

"She scold you yet?" The young man said as he strode over.

"You're late." Reyna deflected.

"Give me some credit. I had to negotiate."

"Is that what the donuts are for? I've told you, those aren't good for Blackjack." Will scolded.

"It's a life or death situation!"

"Uh, this is Perseus Jackson, son of Poseidon and Annabeth Chase. They're basically the leaders of the Greek camp."

"Ready to pass that mantle, anytime. And, call me Percy. Only gods and monsters call me Perseus, and I don't much like either one."

"That explains why you piss them both off. How are you still alive?" Nico asked.

"Good question, Death Boy."

"It's obvious, for times like these." Annabeth answered soberly.

"Guys, these are the mortals of the Justice League." Reyna soildered on.

Annabeth eyed them critically. "You must be Nightwing." She singled him out.

"Uh, yeah." Nightwing said uncomfortably.

Annabeth exchanged a look with Reyna that clearly said that she knew about them. "It's a pleasure to meet you." She smiled knowingly at him.

"Shall we go?" Reyna prompted. He cheeks looked a little red.

"Unfortunately, we're missing one more." Annabeth sighed.

As if on cue, a shout went out, "Graecus!"

Nightwing turned to look in the sky and saw a golden plane headed toward them. He blinked and then saw that as it got closer it's wings were flapping.

"Is that . . ? I don't believe it, it's a dragon!" Shazam said excitedly.

Sure enough a brilliant golden dragon landed almost on top of them. "The party has arrived!" A kid sitting atop the dragon yelled. But there was something odd about this dragon. It not only looked like metal, it was made out of metal. A latino kid slid down the tail of the dragon. "Leo 'McShizzle' Valdez, at your service."

"Ignore him." Another voice said. They looked up to see a young girl floating down as if by magic to where they were.

"Calypso! Wasn't sure you were going to make it." Percy smiled. Annabeth, however, looked unimpressed.

"Let's get this meeting started." Annabeth turned on her heels and entered the tent.

Reyna turned to Leo. "Don't let that thing wander." She glowered at him before turning and entering the tent.

"You blow up Rome one time and you're a walking time bomb." Leo muttered under his breath, then he shouted, "I was possessed!" He then turned and petted the dragon. Then suddenly the dragon began to fold into itself until it had shrunk down into a golden briefcase. He turned to see the Justice League members staring at him with their jaws dropped. "Transformers, eat your heart out." Leo smirked.

"That's physically impossible." Flash insisted.

"Dude, we're all physically impossible." Leo snarked as he followed Calypso into the tent.

"Here we go." He heard Batman breath under his breath as they entered the tent. The tent was much larger than it looked. It was lavishly decorated with rugs across the floor and cushioned chairs around a large table ladened with food.

"Wow." Nightwing said impressed.

Reyna smiled at his reaction. "The Romans don't go skimpy on anything."

"Yeah, if it were the Greeks, we'd be meeting around a campfire." Percy sat next to Annabeth and placed his arn comfortably behind her. Nightwing took note that they were most definitely a couple.

"I don't see anything wrong with that." A girl with spiky black hair said. She looked like a heavy metal rocker with her black ripped jeans and heavy duty black boots. But the whole image was ruined by the silver parka she wore and a delicate circlet on her head.

"Hey, at least we'd have smores." Leo snarked. There was a light breeze and a stack of gooey s'mores, perfectly cooked, appeared before him. "Sweet!" He dug in.

"Uh, you are spoiled." Thalia said disgustedly.

"Well not everyone can be as badass as you." Percy snarked.

"Everyone, this is Thalia, daughter of Zeus and Artamis' lieutenant over the hunters."

Nightwing and the rest of the league, however, we're too fixated on food as suddenly appearing.

"Go ahead," Reyna encouraged them, "ask for anything to eat."

Kid Flash wasted no time and shouted, "A bucket of chicken wings, five hamburgers, four trays of fries, and a liter of root beer." There was another breeze and and everything he had asked for appeared in front of him. "Sweet!" And with that, Kid Flash went into speedster mode and inhaled his food in less than a minute.

"Dang!" Percy commented. "I don't want anyone teasing me about inhaling food. I don't hold a candle compared to him."

"Excuse him. He's a speedster. We have a high metabolism." Flash glared at him.

"What?" Kid Flash said cluelessly.

"Maybe we should get this meeting started." Batman suggested.

Nightwing turned his attention to Reyna, but he was surprised to see that she was looking at Percy and Annabeth. "Right." Annabeth sat forward and placed a paper on the table. " So the building is three stories high. And they have erected a tower on the top . . ."

"Perhaps this will help." Batman interrupted as he placed a hologram display on the table and turned it on. A three dimensional display of the building came up.

"Ooh, is that the hologram three thousand with full interaction capabilities? That is sweet!" Leo gushed.

The rest of the Demigods looked at it with some trepidation. "There's no internet on it." Nightwing assured. While the demigod's relaxed, the Justice League gave him questioning looks. "Monsters can track them through the internet." He explained.

"As if so many of us gathering in one place wasn't a big enough flashing sign." Percy quipped.

"He's so cool." La'gaan whispered.

"It's fine." Annabeth said getting down to business.

"The tower on top is to launch the virus in the air. But the actual virus that they are working on is below it on the third level." Batman interrupted. "The lower levels are filled with most likely a mix of monsters and humans. If we do a combined direct attack on all sides, we should be able to make quick work of it."

"Or they'll make quick work of us without ever leaving the building." Leo said amid smacks of sticky marshmallow. "The building is surrounded by traps. Cleverly hidden, too."

"And you know this, how?" Batman asked.

"I sensed them as I was flying by. They obviously know we're coming."

"Could you disarm any of them from a distance?" Annabeth asked.

"Not these. They're of the more volatile kind." Leo continued

"I'm sorry, who are you?" Green Arrow asked.

"Leo 'McShizzle' . . ."

Calypso smacked him across the back of the head. "Leo Valdez would be better."

"You're no fun. Fine. Leo Valdez, son of Hephaestus, at your service."

"Hephaestus?" Beast Boy looked at him questioningly.

"Someone didn't do his homework." Leo teased "Hephaestus is the god of fire and blacksmithing." Leo explained. "All I have to do is touch something technical I know how it works. I can tell you guys are covered in tech." He waved toward Nightwing, Batman, Batwoman, Green Arrow, and Red Arrow.

"So how do you disarm them?" Annabeth asked.

"Well, from what I gathered, they're all connected. A genius interconnected design that runs to one place: that building." Leo pointed at the hologram. "They can orchastrate all the traps and explosions, like a symphony. It's beautiful." He sighed.

"Maybe, if you're the one controlling it." Arsonal commented.

"What if you were?" Nico smirked.

Leo suddenly didn't look so confident "Shadow travel? Me? I thought I would be fighting on the ground, sort of speaking, with Festus." He definitely looked spooked.

"You should try it. It's a rush." Percy smirked.

"What's shadow travel?" Nightwing asked.

"Shadow travel," Nico smirked, "is when I travel through the underworld to go anywhere in the world, instantaneous. Imagine hundreds of thousands of souls are crying out, trying to latch onto you to come back to the land of the living or drag you down to the fields if Asphodel." Nico explained it so darkly that Nightwing could have sworn that the room got darker.

"Have you ever taken a mortal?" Nightwing asked.

"Not an option." Reyna glared at Nightwing.

"I know this system, and I can hack into just about anything. You are going to need someone technical in there."

"Well, Nico, what do you think would happen if you took a mortal?" Annabeth looked like she was seriously considering it.

"I don't know. I don't usually hang around mortals." Nico admitted.

"Guess."

"Best case scenario, he gets the chills. Worst case scenario, he goes mad." Nico said calmly.

"I can do it." Nightwing insisted.

"And what happens, when you arrive mad? The mission will be compromised." Batman pointed out.

"Then we do a trial run. Nothing too far " Nightwing suggested.

"Sounds good to me." Nico smirked and grabbed hold of him.

Nightwing was enveloped in complete darkness. Voices howled all around him. He felt like he was flying incredibly fast, and then he was back in the daylight. He felt slightly nauseous and out of sorts, but for the most part he was in one peace, but he wasn't sure about his mind. There was a catasymphony of shouting and yelling. Nightwing thought for a moment that he was still in the underworld, except for the brightness. Then he thought he had gone mad. Then he realized that they were arguing about him. It looked like World War III was about to break out.

"I'm fine!" He shouted over the din. The noise died down as he picked himself up off the floor. "I'm fine." He said again. He realized he was across the room, so he walked back over across from Reyna, next to Batman.

"That was inredibly risky. Don't do it again.". Batman growled. He had on his full intimidation stare, except it didn't seem to be working with these kids.

Nico narrowed his eyes back. "It was just across the room."

"I think what Batman is trying to say is that it would be best to seek permission before just acting." Reyna placated.

It was clear that this alliance was starting off rocky. "So now we know that I can shadow travel, so Nico can sneak me into the control room."

"So who's going with you?" Percy leveled his gaze at him.

"Why would anyone need to go with me?" Nightwing questioned. "I work best alone.

"Until you encounter monsters." Annabeth pointed out.

"We usually go on quests in groups of three.". Percy fiddled with a pen in his hand.

"I think Reyna should go." Annabeth decided. "You two started this, it only makes sense you finish it."

Reyna met Nightwing's gaze.

"Makes sense." Percy agreed.

"Are we all in agreeance?" Reyna asked.

No one raised their hands or said "aye " but no one objected either.

"Then all we have to do is decide who fights with who." Batman started.

"Agreed " Annabeth interrupted. "But there is one blaring problem that needs to be addressed."

"What now?" Batman was looking a little irate at this blond girl.

"Our . . . uniforms are so different that no matter how stupid the monster or mortal is, they'll know who to attack." Annabeth pointed out

She was right. How could he have missed that. Even Batman looked a little taken back. "What God are you the daughter of?" Batman asked.

"Goddess " she said with a slight irritation in her voice. "I'm the daughter of Athena, goddess of wisdom and battle strategy."

That explained a lot. He had been wondering why Reyna was so willing to hand over the reigns to her. It seemed that all the demigod's relied on her council. She must be experienced.

Batman raised an eyebrow, which Nightwing took to mean that he was somewhat impressed. "What do you suggest?"

"Well," Annabeth scooted to the front of her seat. "I was thinking of swapping." She eyed the group before her trying to judge their reaction. "Think of it. A monster sees you in that getup and knows you're mortal. It's like walking with a target on your back. If a Half-Blood is in that getup, . . ."

"They'd be in for the shock of their lives." Percy laughed. "That's brilliant." He beamed at her.

"You want us to just hand over our gear and wear that armor?" Batman looked less than doubtful, he looked appalled.

"He's got a point." Frank interjected. Annabeth fixed her gaze on him. "Don't get me wrong. It's a great idea. But if I were to wear something like that, I wouldn't be able to fight in it. How do you even see through the masks?"

Nightwing saw that he had a point. He wasn't sure he would be able to fight in armor either.

"I might have an idea." Zatanna said shyly. All eyes turned to her. "An illusion spell. It has its limitations, like it only lasts an hour, and whoever you dress up as, would have to look similar to you. For example, Nightwing and Percy Jackson have similar builds and the same hair color so they could easily be illusioned to look like the other."

"And you would be able to still fight?" Percy asked as he eyed Nightwing's skin tight outfit.

"As far as you would be concerned, you would still be in your armor, and he would be in his gear. Nothing would change, except your apparance." Zatanna explained.

"Who did you say you were?" Annabeth asked.

"She's my daughter, a legacy of Hecate." Zatara said with a note of pride.

"What do you think, Lou Ellen?". Annabeth asked a young girl, maybe a few years younger than Zatanna sitting behind her.

The girl smiled widely, and said, "I think I have the awesomest niece ever. It's manipulating the mist at its best. We could totally do that."

Nightwing thought it odd to have a girl younger than Zatanna claiming to be her aunt. But he guessed that's what happened when your grandmother is a goddess.

"Good. You two hook up with the Hecate cabin and figure out whose switching." Annabeth ordered, then she smirked at Batman, "As for the rest of us, now we can talk about strategy."


	29. Chapter 29

Annabeth and Batman went back and forth on different strategies to use. Batman was obviously a skilled strategist himself. It was beginning to feel like a competition between the two on who could come up with the better strategy. Reyna, Frank and the other counselors gave input when they could. Reyna, however, lost interest after a little while. She, after all, was going to be inside the building. So much had happened in such a few short days. Reyna was a swirl of emotions that she kept under a cool exterior. She couldn't afford to show any fear, lest it ripple through the ranks. There was one person who Reyna, as expected, saw right through her. Nightwing had not taken his eyes off of her since they had arrived. She felt like he was so far away with just a table between them and their respective teams beside them. Still, they continued to share glances that spoke volumes. Are you alright.

Once the meeting was over, it was time to gear up for battle. Reyna went to finalize preparations for her troops. Frank looked a little uncomfortable having been caught by one of the Justice League members. He was a young kid whose skin was green.

"So, you can transform into animals, too?" he asked. Reyna had forgotten that Frank's transforming abilities had been briefly mentioned during the meeting.

"Uh, yeah" Frank answered tentatively.

"Me too!" He said excitedly. "I've never met someone else that can transform. What's your favorite animal to transform into during a fight?"

"Uh, I usually prefer my sword in a fight. It's a good idea to be versital when fighting."

"Exactly. I like the gorrilla myself." He rambled on.

Reyna didn't hear the rest of the conversation as she continued on. She saw Hazel feeding Arion gold, which caught the interest of a few of the Justice League members.

"He doesn't look special." She heard the same kid, who ate a large meal at super speed, observe.

"Oh, he is special." Hazel said in her southern accent. "He's the fastest horse on earth."

"Oh really." He said with a note of challenge in his voice.. "Well, I'm the fastest kid on earth. Wonder who's faster?"

Arion let out a loud whinny. Reyna had once heard Percy complain that Orion had a bad temper with a filthy mouth to go with it. So she didn't think his whinny was anything good.

There was a bit of a commotion when Clarisse finally arrived in a chariot led by two horses with red eyes. "Looks like we arrived just in time for the party."

"We need to work on your definition of on time." Percy snarked.

"Shut up, Prissy." Clarisse snapped. "I call it perfect timing: just in time for the fight. I'll let you guys deal with the meetings."

The Hecate cabin had begun pairing up Justice League members with a comparable look-a-like to cast the illusion. It seemed to be working very well. She couldn't tell who were her half-bloods and who were Justice League members.

She had just checked on the medic tent when she saw Nightwing slip into a supply tent. Her eyes narrowed as she approached the tent. She opened the flap with a quip about stealing Half-Blood weapons on her lips, when she saw Nightwing sharing a passionate kiss with another Justice League member with blond hair, wearing a tiger striped leotard. Rage filled her as the two parted due to her arrival.

"Reyna!" The girl said with alarm. "It's not him! It's Percy! I'm Annabeth. It's the illusion." She said in a rush.

Reyna forced herself to take hold of her rampaging emotions. She returned the flap and turned to see Percy staring at her. She flushed at the sight of him. They must have illusioned Percy to look like Nightwing and Nightwing to look like Percy.

To his credit, Nightwing didn't laugh or even smirk. He simple walked over to her and in a low voice said, "I told you, I would never hurt you again, and I meant it."

"It just took me off guard." Reyna tried to brush it off as she walked swiftly toward her tent.

"I can imagine." He said as he followed her into her tent. "Everyone's ready. It's time to head out."

"Okay." She took a deep breath. "If things don't go well, . . ."

"Reyna."

"You can use the larger explosives to kill them. Large objects falling on them are effective, too."

"Reyna!" Nightwing interrupted her. He grabbed her hand and stepped closer to her, making her heart race. "I've already lost you once; I'm not going to loose you again. We'll stop them."

Reyna didn't dare look at him. The illusion of Percy was unsettling. She felt Nightwing's hand caress her cheek, then she felt his lips on hers, moving softly. She deepened the kiss and ran her fingers through his hair, relishing every touch. His scent filled her senses. She wanted the moment to last forever, but a deliberate clearing of a throat brought her crashing back to reality. A Roman half-blood stood at the entrance. Reyna was about to repremand him when Nightwing said, "We were just on our way."

Reyna realized with a start that the soldier before her was Batman. The helmet obsured his face, so she wasn't even sure who he switched with. "Is there going to be a problem sending you two together?"

Reyna flushed at the insuation. Nightwing glowered at Batman. "We're both professionals. We know how to focus on the job. We'll be there in a minute."

Batman, thankfully, left the tent. "Well, that was mortifying." Reyna tried to lighten tension.

"What was you you said? When you find happiness, you need to hold on tight and savor every moment."

"Something like that." she blushed.

"We're savoring." He leaned in for another kiss.

She put a hand on his chest. "As much as I would like to stay here and savor, we really should go."

"You're right." He sighed reluctantly. Then his face became serious, like he had flipped a switch.

They headed out and found Nico waiting patiently. "Took you long enough." He grumbled.

"Just had to take care of some last minute items." Reyna tried to give him a stern look.

He merely shrugged. "Ready?"

Nightwing had an uneasy look on his face. Reyna grabbed his hand and squeezed it gently. He squeezed back as they each place a hand on Nico's shoulder. "Ready." Reyna said confidently.

"I should be able to get you directly into the control room, as long as I don't mess up."

"Wait! What do you mean mess up?" Nightwing said with some panic in his voice. However, Nico was already melting into the shadows with them in tow.

They were plunged into the cold darkness. Pained voices howled around them. Reyna focused on Nightwing's hand gripping hers. Just as quickly as it had started, it was over. They were in a small room filled with computer screens. Two men sat at their seats oblivious to their arrival. Nightwing held onto Reyna for a moment as he caught his balance and focused on the men in front of them.

"Uh maybe, we should . . ." Nico guestered to the mortals.

Reyna shook her head, "He's got it."

Their conversation had attracted the two men's attention. As they turned around, Nightwing swung into action knocking them both out with a fist in one's face and a kick to the other one's head.

"Impressive." Nico admitted. "You got things here then? You're on your own from here on out."

Nightwing went over to the door and locked it. "I think we got things."

"May the gods be with you." Reyna said in farewell.

"They better be. Their lives are on the line too." Nico grumbled as he stepped into the shadow and disappeared.

"I've seen Batman melt into and out of shadows lots of times. But, I have to admit, knowing that Nico literally travels through the shadows makes him a little more bad ass." Nightwing said as he sat down and got to work.

Reyna let out a soft chuckle. "I'll let him know." She said as she watched the monitors. She saw dracnea, telekins, wild centaurs, and worse of all giants. How they fit so many monsters, she had no idea. "That's a lot of monsters." Reyna said apprehensively.

Nightwing glanced to where she was looking. "We've got a good plan. We've got this." He assured her.

Reyna nodded as she continued to study the monitors. She saw a strange room with what a giant canister almost as big as the room, filled with liquid. "Is that the pathogen?" She asked, already knowing the answer.

Nightwing paused in his work long enough to look to where she was pointing. "Yeah." His voice sounded concerned.

"Can you access it from here?" She asked.

"No. We'll have to go to that room, and shut it down." He said hurrying back to work. "Yes. I'm in."

Reyna found the monitor showing outside the building. She could see their friends approaching in the distance.

Just then one of the knocked out men's radios crackled and a voice came over it. "Ready the canons."

"That's our cue." Nightwing grabbed the radio and answered, "Roger that.". He cracked his knuckles and began working on the computer. "Man, that kid was right. They've got stuff that I don't think is even legal.". Then he grabbed the radio and answered, "Cannons ready."

The main entrance monitor showed an army of monsters exiting. They looked eager for battle. Nightwing's hand hoovered over the keyboard, waiting. Their friends had stopped advancing and stood at the ready. It was a fine sight, but small compared to how many monsters were waiting. The thing that frightened her the most was that there were still so many more monsters inside the building.

"Fire when ready." The radio crackled.

"Here we go." He breathed as he pressed a button. There was a series of explosions that went off at the main entrance. If that didn't destroy them, they were at least weakened.

"All units, get to the control room, now!" The radio crackled.

*Here comes company," he sing songed. "And for added measure." There was another explosion.

"What was that?" Reyna questioned.

"I had the cannons blow each other up." He smirked. He did a few more strokes on the keyboard before getting up.

"They're at the door." Reyna warned as she got ready for battle.

"Okay, let's go." Nightwing said as he moved the chair over to the vent. He stood on it and removed a vent covering in the ceiling.

"Where are we going?" Reyna asked.

"First rule of stealth, don't be seen, unless you want to be seen. Up you go." He had her get on the chair and then boosted her up into the vent.

"Easier said than done." She grumbled as she struggled to get in the confining area. "This is not very Roman."

Nightwing climbed into the vent far more graceful than she ever could. He silently replaced the covering just as there was a small bang and several men rushed into the room. Nightwing held up a finger to his lips as they held as still as possible, not even daring to breath.

"All clear. They completely destroyed the controls." A voice said.

"I smell sulfur." A feminine voice said. "The son of Hades has been here. He thinks he is so clever. Send the remaining guards to the bio room. They will try to sabatoge the pathogen. We just need a little more time before it is ready. Go!".

The soldiers left as quickly as they came. Reyna could just make out the feminine form wondering the real below them. Stopped just below the vent that they were hiding in. She stiff the air a couple of times. "Interesting." She murmured before leaving the room.

Reyna released a breath she didn't realize she was holding. "Now what?" She asked exasperatedly.

"Now we head that way to where they have the pathogens." Nightwing pointed behind her.

"Right." Reyna huffed as she began moving towards where the battle lay, wondering if the monster could smell her or him or both.


End file.
